Aurora 3: Starlight
by RachelJLewis
Summary: Part 3 of 5: Ness's History Teacher Stephanie Chambers is getting a life. Into hers comes the attractive but mysterious Daniel Mitchell and she finds herself unwittingly dragged into a dark and dangerous world. She might not be getting a life after all, she might be losing it.
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome to the 3****rd**** part of my Aurora Saga. This story is set after the events of Aurora and you might find it helpful to read that story first. You can read it either before or after 'The Gift' as the events of 'The Gift' take place within Starlight's timeframe.  
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**Although it is coded as Jake and Ness, that's mostly to be able to fix it on the site. This story doesn't explicitly dwell on those two, but they and the rest of the family do appear as the story unfolds. ****I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it. Your feedback would be greatly appreciated. **

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**Chapter One: Seeing Stars**

"So how'd it go?" Bex made me jump as I passed her room. The coffee in the cup I was holding sloshed over the sides and only a timely curve out of the way stopped it from going down me. I wasn't expecting to see her in school this early and I looked at her blankly. "Hello? Earth to Stephanie? Last night's astronomy class?"

"Oh, fine thanks."

"That good, huh?"

"No, it was good," I asserted. "I enjoyed it."

"You don't sound like you did. So, it really was just a bunch of retired people? Bet you brought the average age down by about fifty years."

"No, there was a kid there."

"Oh great, more kids. Like you don't get enough of them teaching here." Bex rolled her eyes. "Catch you later; got to work out where I left that stack of grading."

I smiled as she randomly picked up piles of books and looked under them for the missing papers. Bex taught English and was slightly disorganised. OK, perhaps that was being generous. She was hopeless. Bex and I were very different creatures. If Bex Walton was Little Miss Disorganised; then I, Stephanie Chambers, was Little Miss Obsessively Neat. There'd be no way a stack of grading would ever go missing in my life. While I'd like to put that down to being good at my job, in truth it was because grading was pretty much all I had; along with class preparation, teaching, parents' nights, staff meetings and my cat, Lyra. I loved my job, I gave it my all, but I was very aware that it wasn't in my best interests long-term. If I didn't do something about it, there'd be a good chance of becoming a terminally single 'crazy cat-lady' by the time I was forty. But this year I was making the changes, I was getting a life.

Not that I didn't have a perfectly good life already. It didn't contain much that was bad and even less since I'd dumped Scott. It was merely a little dominated by work. I knew that I needed to do something more than sit at home each night, preparing classes, grading papers and keeping one eye on the TV.

Things had come to a head back in August, when Scott - my now ex-boyfriend - had decided that he'd rather stay in Seattle and work, instead of taking our planned vacation in California. I'd ended up spending two weeks in Laguna Beach with Mom and that was the last straw. After that, Scott and I were dead in the water. So very nearly was my mother; after she'd spent the entire time saying 'I told you so' in every possible way.

My Mom's dislike for Scott had been clear right from the start and she'd whooped for joy when I'd told her why I was inviting her to share my vacation. With hindsight, I should have gone alone. But there's nothing like your mother rubbing salt into your wounds, to make sure it never happens again. I'd arrived back from California with the determination that things were going to be different.

I'd made the 'we're through' call to Scott the very next day. I made it standing up, wearing my most expensive work suit, hair and make-up perfect and in my most vertiginous heels. I made sure that I was on the highest moral ground while delivering the parting shot to the bottom-dweller on the end of the line. Scott Lacey was ancient history and not the type I usually gravitated towards.

I taught High School History and I loved my subject, especially the medieval. I knew where I was with history, in a way that I never knew where I was with Scott. I could depend on history, piece it together from evidence and form a clear picture of what had happened. With Scott, there was no such clarity and I felt him squirm in my hands whenever I tried to pin him down. Did I think he saw other women? Absolutely, he was in Seattle, I was in Port Angeles. Was I deluded, thinking that I could somehow change him? No, I wasn't stupid. I knew he wouldn't change; but I'd never found the impetus to end it before. If truth be told, he was a bit of a life-line to the outside world and severing it meant I was on my own.

I wasn't scared of being alone; I was content with my own company and didn't need anyone to feel complete. But it was nice to have an excuse to go to Seattle now and then, or have someone to go to a movie or out to dinner with. And occasionally sleep with, there was that. I had needs like any other woman. But, there's only so much crap you can take from a guy and only so many times you can vacation with your mother. I was twenty six for crying out loud, I was too old for this.

I had clipped into my planner a list of things I wanted to achieve this academic year. September always feels more like the start of a new year than January ever does. I guess it's the side effect of being a teacher. At the top of my list was the big thing; I wanted to be out of my tiny apartment in Port Angeles. I shouldn't be a complete grouch against Mom; because after Dad died three years ago, she sold the house, moved into something smaller and gave me the money to make a decent down-payment with. But I'd done nothing with it. I'd taught near Mom in Oregon for two years while she found her feet after Dad's death, then I'd gotten this job in Forks a year ago. It had all been a bit of a rush. I grabbed an apartment where I could and disappeared into my new job for the year. California had been the first time I'd come up for air.

I'd enjoyed my first year here and it was as good a place as any to settle down in. I'd arrived with the intention of exploring Olympic National Park, but I'd not set foot on a hiking trail yet. Doing that was definitely on my to-do list this year.

The rest was a little predictable: Make some friends, get a life outside work, do something new and get out of the country on vacation, even if it was only up to Canada. I had an unused passport sat in a drawer that just begged to be taken out and used to go to all the places I yearned to see. Greece, Italy, Britain and Egypt were at the top of my list, but anywhere would do, anywhere that wasn't here. I really wanted to lose myself in another culture.

For my 'do something new' I'd decided on astronomy. I wasn't strictly new to it; it was something I'd done with Dad as a child. He'd been the amateur astronomer and had eagerly shared his telescope time; pointing out planets, constellations and firing up a love of the cosmos in me. Also, I loved the night, particularly midsummer nights; when the heat of the day abates and the cool darkness brings with it the scent of night-blooming flowers and the sounds of nocturnal creatures. There wasn't much heat to abate when you lived this far north, but southern California had been perfect. During my vacation I'd become almost nocturnal, relishing the beauty of the night.

It was by accident that I'd found an advertisement for astronomy classes posted on the Port Angeles website and it had taken me a full week to get around to replying. But I'd been in luck; he'd got one place left and the class had started last night.

I put my bag and coffee down on the desk in my room and rested against the wall behind me. I took a few slow deep breaths, preparing myself for the day ahead. I closed my eyes and allowed my thoughts to drift back to last night.

I'd come out of a four-year relationship, or what passed for one. If there was one thing I knew, it was that I wouldn't be dating evasive swamp-life ever again. I would be dating only nice men. Men who returned your calls, didn't let you down and never ever put work ahead of a vacation. I needed time to get the poison of Scott out of my system and a year's break from dating men seemed like a very good idea.

This part of the Olympic peninsula was a desert as far as men were concerned. Not once had I been remotely tempted; not even by Mike Newton the Biology teacher, who was the closest thing to cute this place had. I sighed; taking a year off was the plan, anyway. But it was as if a God I didn't believe in anymore had looked at my plans, laughed at them and despatched his most gorgeous angel to come mess with them. A scary angel; but nevertheless, an angel.

As a child my Mom had taken me to church. Now I knew why angels in the Bible said 'fear not' when they appeared to people, because I'd quaked in my boots at the sight of Daniel Mitchell. He was so attractive that it hurt to look at him. You could almost feel that he was something else.

I couldn't tell Bex about this, it would be around the school quicker than a lightning strike. She may be disorganised with student papers, but she knew exactly what to do with a piece of gossip.

I groaned. I absolutely couldn't do this. But everything was pulling me towards him as if I were teetering on the edge of a black hole.

"Oh shit." I said softly, exhaling with a sigh. I gave in and mentally escaped my warm Forks schoolroom for a cold, windswept viewpoint outside Port Angeles. I'd allow myself a few minutes to think about him.

"Stephanie Chambers?"

"Yes."

"Hi, I'm Daniel Mitchell, glad you could make it." We shook hands. The pair of us had solid blocks of ice for hands in this bitter wind. For mid-October it was unseasonably cold. I quickly forced mine back into my gloves to give me the opportunity to look away. I wanted to look at him, but didn't want to look at him and my mind was having trouble deciding which one. He was, without question, the most gorgeous man I'd ever seen; but my body didn't produce the usual responses. Instead of appearing friendly, approachable, or even flirty; I'd tensed up and my body had felt like it was on red alert. He was terrifying and beautiful all at the same time. If I was displaying this inner turmoil on my face, he didn't acknowledge it. He smiled at me and introduced me to the rest of the group.

There were five other people here and I was surprised to see that they were all roughly the same age as me. Not, as Bex had predicted, a bunch of retired people. Perhaps all these astronomy shows had made it cool to study the stars now? They'd certainly fired up my enthusiasm for the subject again.

First up, there was Will Randall and his sister, Jane. Both of them were blonde and Jane was giggly, in that way teenage girls are before puberty really hits and they lose the power of multi-syllable speech. Jane was constantly jumping up and down; she hadn't taken Daniel's email advice to wrap up warm seriously enough. I had and I was wearing most of my winter wardrobe under my coat. I hoped the session wouldn't end by going for pizza, as getting behind the wheel of my car had been enough of a struggle, without trying to slide gracefully into a booth in Pizza Hut. There was a big difference in age between Jane and Will. While she was in her early teens I put him at mid-twenties. But Will was another good-looking guy, if a little shabby in appearance. So all the gorgeous guys hung out at Astronomy Club, who knew? I'd been looking in the wrong place all year.

Next was Seth Clearwater, he looked Native American in appearance, perhaps from the Makah or the Quileute populations on the west coast of the peninsula. Bizarrely, even in this biting wind he was dressed only lightly and had hands so warm that I could feel the heat from them through my gloves, when he shook my hand. He excused his constantly chiming cell phone. He and his wife had just announced that they were expecting a baby and he was getting a constant stream of congratulatory messages.

"I'll turn it off when we get started." He said, grinning from ear to ear.

The last couple were a boyfriend and girlfriend in their late teens. I didn't know if they were going to untwine themselves long enough to look down telescopes. The guy introduced them both.

"Hello, I'm Anthony and this is Marie." His voice was smooth, formal and quite seductive which shocked me. He was no older than the kids I taught, perhaps even a senior himself for goodness sake. There was a slight smile on his face, as if he found something amusing. In addition to having a very attractive voice, Anthony was another good looking guy. Where Daniel and Will were blond, Anthony had darker hair.

Where Randall, Jane and Seth were devoid of warm clothes, Anthony and Marie had gotten the message and were as bundled up as I was. Marie kept herself pressed to Anthony and I wondered why they were here, if all they wanted to do was gaze at each other, not at the stars?

Daniel called us all to attention. It was a bit rich me talking about Anthony and Marie like that, because I'd like to turn my telescope firmly on Daniel Mitchell and gaze at him all night. Behind me Anthony snickered and I glanced around. He and Marie were rubbing noses like loved-up Inuits. He caught me looking and grinned. It was just a smile, but it sent a shiver down my spine. I felt suddenly cold and unsettled in a way I couldn't explain. Perhaps I was sickening for something? I pulled off a glove and put my hand to my forehead. No, I didn't feel any warmer than usual, colder perhaps in this wind. Maybe I'd caught a chill? I pulled my glove back on, stamped my feet and wriggled about to get my blood pumping. Daniel made eye contact with me and I froze, like a rabbit caught in headlights. I'd never suffered from lack of confidence around men, but perhaps this was a side-effect from being with Scott for too long. I definitely needed to get out more.

Daniel had my complete attention as he gave his introductory talk. I wasn't really hearing a word he said though; I was gazing at him as if he were the brightest, most beautiful star in the heavens. In the dark of the night he looked like a matinee idol from the days of black and white film, all perfection and sculpted cheekbones. I put him about the same age as Will and myself, mid-twenties, perhaps a little older. His hair was long on top, tapering in to his neck where it was shaved, just above the edge of his scarf. Even in the dark I could tell it was pale blond. Periodically, as the wind whipped it into his eyes, he ran his hand through it to scrape it back. He made even that simple gesture look sexy. Angel, definitely angel. Avenging angel mind you - he didn't look like someone you messed with.

I found myself seeking out the fourth finger of his left hand and thrilled when I found it empty of a ring. Sadly, that meant nothing these days. You couldn't know for sure unless you asked and even then they sometimes told you a lie. I mentally pulled myself up. What was I doing? I was here to learn about astronomy not pick up a guy! Had I forgotten the first rule about this year and it wasn't even the end of October yet? I returned to what he was saying and discovered that he was already half way through his explanation of how the telescope worked and that I was completely lost. I'd have to get him to explain it to me all over again. I bit my lip as a sudden wicked smile threatened to expose my agenda.

"Miss Chambers?"

"Hmm?"

Back in my school room a girl's voice ripped me from my daydream and back into reality. My eyes focussed on the chocolate brown eyes, perfectly clear skin and long bronze curls of Ness Masen, one of my seniors. She was looking at me with some concern.

"Are you OK?" She continued. "You look dazzled."

I hurriedly disengaged my brain from Daniel.

"That's a bad case of bloke if ever I saw one." From behind Ness peeked Jess Taylor. The two friends were inseparable, although opposites in personality and appearance. The shy Ness had hooked herself up with the most acerbic British girl that it was possible to meet. The pair of them, along with Jess's twin brother Dan, myself and Mike Newton had started at Forks High on the same day. Because of that, I'd always taken a particular interest in them.

"I'm fine, thank you." I replied hurriedly. "I was thinking about something."

"What's his name?" Jess grinned at me.

"Oh no," I dismissed her comment with a wave of my hand. "I was dreaming about a vacation next year. I was thinking of Italy."

"Yeah, right." Jess cackled and Ness grinned with amusement. "We'll believe you, millions wouldn't."

I reclaimed the conversation and smiled at Ness. "What can I do for you?"

Ness handed me three papers. "We're heading off at lunchtime for a long weekend; so we wanted to hand these in before class, because we won't be there."

"Going anywhere nice?"

"Idaho."

"That's a long way to go for a weekend!"

"It's a family thing. A birthday, anniversary or something; it's one of my cousin's family."

Ness had come to live in Forks last year after her parents were killed in an accident, leaving her with no other family. The authorities had managed to track down her cousin, but she'd come to live with the Police Chief Charlie Swan, when it became difficult to live in a tiny house with her cousin, his wife and their baby daughter. Her cousin's family had long left the area, but they cast a long shadow. Even now their name seemed to reverberate around this school like an echo.

"The Cullens?" Ness nodded, she looked nervous. It couldn't be easy fitting into a large family that she barely knew. "And you're all going?" There were three papers here, including one from Dan.

"Yes, I can take along a couple of friends for company."

"Well, you have a good weekend, thanks for these."

I watched the two girls leave. As they reached the door a look passed between them and Jess started giggling. No, she didn't believe me for one minute about Italy. If she could see right through me then I'd have to hide it deeper.

What did I mean 'hide it deeper'? Why was I hiding anything at all? I wasn't supposed to be going near men this year, so why on earth was I allowing this man to have such an effect on me? I placed the papers in the right colour-coded wallet on the desk and unpacked my bag. As I set my things out for the day, images of Daniel's face periodically stunned me. He was beautiful; terribly, terribly beautiful. But somehow; terribly, terribly wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Notes and Papers**

The days passed at the pace of continental drift and there was every chance we'd be in a new geologic period before the week was out. Each minute felt like a year. Each hour felt like a decade. But finally, it was Thursday once more.

I made my exit from school in what could be viewed as indecent haste. I'd never previously left before five o'clock and now here I was, lining up to get out of the parking lot with the other students. I'd rushed past Bill Greene, the Principal with the excuse that I had a Doctor's appointment. Why I needed to explain myself when I was perfectly entitled to leave, I had no idea. It was all part of the scrambled egg that was my brain right now.

Once home, I fixed myself some coffee before settling down to do my preparation for tomorrow. That out of the way, I graded some papers and as I worked, I urged the clock to move faster. Lyra came and helped, in that special way cats have, of sitting on your work. But tonight her little foibles could not irritate me; I was excited about seeing Daniel again.

On the stroke of six I stopped work and threw some leftovers into the oven to heat whilst I took a shower. I dried my hair and left it to hang loose. I rarely wore it down, my default was to pin it up in a simple twist anchored with a large barrette. My straight chestnut-brown hair had been the same style forever; shoulder length, with bangs cut in and a centre parting. In California this summer it had picked up some red tones, which I liked. I thought I might get some red highlights put through for the winter and I wondered what Daniel would think of that and then smacked my brush down on the dressing table. I rested my elbows on the table and cupped my forehead in my hands. What the hell was I doing?

"Stop it," I chastised myself. I looked in the mirror; my cheeks were red from the hot shower and my eyes were bright with the excitement of what was to come. This wasn't good for me, I needed time to get the other bits of my life working right before I let a guy back in. I'd email him and tell him I was quitting; I could do astronomy another time. I clicked my email and composed a brief message to Daniel. My cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Stephanie? Hi, it's Daniel Mitchell." He even had a voice like heaven.

"Oh!" I said, too brightly and then made it a whole heap worse. "We're still on for tonight aren't we?" I smacked my palm against my forehead. I might just as well have said 'come round, we'll skip the star-gazing and go straight to bed.' Worse, Daniel picked up on it, I distinctly heard him chuckle.

"Yes, although I was calling because there's rain forecast and I wondered if you could make it a half hour earlier?"

This time I reined it in. "That's fine." I replied. I was cool, I was nonchalant; I was the Ice Queen.

"I'll see you later then. Don't forget to wrap up warm."

"I won't. See you later."

I hung up and pressed delete on the email I'd been about to send. I cringed, I'd been an idiot. Oh well, that would cement my year off men. He'd avoid me like the plague now.

I pulled into the parking lot ahead of a gleaming black Jaguar. It pulled up beside me and Daniel got out of it. It was a beautiful car for a beautiful man and as I watched him walk to the trunk, I thought his choice of car was appropriate because there was something very cat-like about him. Adrenaline flooded my system and my heart thumped in my chest. I shoved my hat on my head, pulled my gloves on and got out of the car.

I went over to help; he was pulling telescopes and stands out of the trunk. This close to him, my body alternated between desire and fear, never settling on one and confused by the presence of the other. He glanced up, said hello and smiled at me. My system responded by settling on fear. What was up with me?

Other cars pulled up and from them came Anthony, Marie, Seth, Will and Jane. I picked up one of the telescopes and walked over to the viewpoint; Marie fell into step beside me. She'd barely said a word last Thursday so I thought perhaps things with Anthony weren't great this week, but that turned out to be wrong. She made all the conversation tonight, so I guessed that she was just a little less confident than Anthony was. Marie asked the usual questions: What I did, about my family and so on. I'd never really given it much thought; but now, telling a complete stranger that my life was essentially grading papers and clearing up cat vomit; it really didn't sound so good. I should invent a life that didn't bore meto death, let alone anyone else. She told me that she and Anthony had graduated last year but they hadn't decided what they were going to do yet.

"Did you always want to be a teacher?" She asked.

"No," I replied. "I ended up doing it because of a guy." Scott had been the reason I'd stayed on to get my teaching qualification. Of course, he'd promptly bailed and went to do something different. I should've known right there how things would end up. I scoffed and looked at her. "Make sure you never end up doing something just because a guy does; they're not worth it."

"I'll try and remember that. I take it you and him aren't together anymore?"

"Not since the summer, when he decided that work was more important than me." I opened up the support frame of the telescope and cut my knuckle on a sharp bit of metal. "Ow!" I yelped. Blood pooled instantly and I put the bleeding finger into my mouth. Anthony appeared in front of me.

"I have a first aid kit in the car if you'd like a Band Aid for that?" I nodded and followed him.

We passed Daniel overseeing Will setting up his telescope. I decided I should tell him where I was going. I pulled the bleeding finger out of my mouth. "I'm just getting something for my finger. I cut it."

He looked alarmed and Anthony said something to him that I couldn't quite hear. I tried to reassure him so I pulled my finger out of my mouth again and waved it at him. "I'm fine!" I said, beaming. His expression went from alarmed to horrified. By his side Will shared his expression. Did everyone around here have a fear of blood? I looked at my finger. They could have a point though; it was almost gushing. I put my knuckle back in my mouth and followed Anthony to his car. I hoped this didn't mean that I'd need to go to the hospital.

From the glove box Anthony pulled a large first aid kit and donned a pair of plastic gloves.

"My father's a Doctor." He explained. That would explain the Volvo, no kid his age would be seen dead driving one of these. Thankfully for me some of his Dad's medical training had rubbed off. He got me to press on the wound with a gauze pad until it stopped bleeding.

I sat on the passenger seat of the car. It was a top of the range model with a black leather interior and from the smell, still very new. Anthony was calm in a way that reminded me of how Dad had been when I fell and cut my knees. He said very little, glancing back over to the group as they were working. Overhead, the bad weather was starting to roll in from the west. It would in time obscure our view, but before that I was hoping to focus on the constellation of Taurus.

I was curious why Anthony had chosen to join this group. He didn't come across as your typical teen. I couldn't see any of my seniors doing this. The only stars they'd ever want to look at were the kind you saw on TV or in the movies.

"What made you come here?" I asked.

He took my hand and removed the gauze swab. It wasn't quite done bleeding yet, so he had me put the pressure back on.

"Marie wanted to come; she's been watching too much '_Wonders of the Universe'_." He laughed. "But I find it interesting too. I haven't looked down a telescope in a very long time, so it's nice to reacquaint myself with it. You?"

"Much the same. Too much TV and I used to do this with Dad. It reminds me of him."

"I heard you telling Marie that you're a teacher?"

"Yes. At Forks High. I've been there a year."

"You like it?"

"Yes, but wish there wasn't so much of it. So you've just graduated and you don't know what you want to do yet?"

"We're taking time out. There's plenty of time to go to College."

"All the time in the world?"

He smiled gently. "Something like that."

I laughed. "Young people, I love how they think they're immortal."

"You're hardly old, Stephanie."

"I'm older than you." He gave an enigmatic smile. "I like being older." I continued. "I want to be as old as my Mom; she's at that 'I could care less,' age.

"What age is that?"

"Fifty."

"Marie's Dad's right there."

"So he spends a lot of time shouting at the TV and slobbing around in his pyjamas?"

"The first one yes, I think he's working on the second. Let's have a look at this again." He removed the gauze. "It's stopped."

Anthony cleaned and dressed my knuckle and we walked back to join the others. He went immediately to Marie and they welded themselves back together. Daniel was still discussing things with Will, so I went over to my telescope and using some pointers in the sky picked out Taurus, focussing on the star Aldebaran. My knuckle started to throb and that wasn't the only thing that was sore. My ego was bruised, because Daniel wasn't coming anywhere near me. My earlier indiscretion on the phone, had been a warning that he'd taken seriously. During the evening he barely acknowledged me, managing only a cursory check on what I was doing, followed at the end by a perfunctory 'thank you', 'see you next week' and 'goodbye'.

As his Jaguar swung out of the parking lot, I sat alone in the pitch dark. I shouldn't feel like this, but I did. I didn't want a guy this year, but perhaps it wasn't for me to decide what the stars had in store? Life is what happens when you've made other plans, right? That's how the saying went. But this was ruined before it even had a chance. He was out of my league for one thing. Angels didn't date mortals and certainly not High School teachers. I didn't have a hope in hell.

In the morning I felt as if I'd been run over by a truck. I hadn't slept well and it was all Lyra's fault. At around two thirty, she'd started yowling and hissing. I got up, scoured the apartment but found nothing. I managed to get back to sleep at around four but that was a bad move. I woke an hour later with my alarm feeling so bad that I was almost tempted to call in sick. But I had a full day of classes, so I dosed myself up on strong coffee and got moving.

The day was relentless. My energy levels were on the floor and I was sure that if I closed my eyes I'd fall asleep right where I stood. I walked back to my room towards the end of lunch and picked up a note on my desk. There would be no falling asleep today. Not even perhaps tonight.

**Stay away from Daniel Mitchell.**

The message was written in blue ink on a piece of lined paper torn from a spiral bound notebook. There was nothing else on the paper, not even my name.

Three things came to mind. The first was 'why?' It was customary to give a person a reason for doing or not doing something. To not give me the reason was maddening. Secondly, there was absolutely no need for them to give me this message, as I'd already dealt with it in my own spectacularly crass way. Daniel Mitchell wouldn't be coming anywhere near me apart from during astronomy sessions. Thirdly, how did someone here know that knew Daniel Mitchell? I'd told no one. The only people who were aware that I knew him, were the five other people in my astronomy group. None of them lived in Forks as far as I knew and I hadn't seen Jane here; she looked a little young to be at this school. My eyes darted around the room, suddenly worried that I was being spied on.

I went back out into the hallway but it was empty. I stuck my head into Jim's room next door. He wasn't back yet. It was highly unlikely he'd have seen anything; Jim Sidari wasn't in his room a second longer than he needed to be on any given day. I looked again at the note and tried to work out who the handwriting belonged to. A woman and it could be a girlfriend, an ex-girlfriend, a wife or an ex-wife warning me off. A man and it could be a boyfriend or perhaps… Perhaps Daniel wasn't good news? Perhaps I should check the FBI's most wanted list and keep a keener eye on the local news reports.

I was pursuing this line of thought when there was a knock at my door. I looked up to see Jess Taylor and Ness Masen.

"Yes?"

"We're playing at The Shed in Port Angeles tomorrow night," said Jess, handing me a flyer. "We wondered if you'd like to come along?"

I looked at the details; it'd be a great excuse to go out and wasn't too far from me. But then reality hit. Who would I go with?

"Thanks, but I don't have anybody to go with." I admitted.

"I'll go with you." Mike Newton was standing in the doorway, the same flyer in his hand. "I was coming over to see if you'd be interested in going." He smiled at the girls. "I missed you at the Civic Anniversary; I hear you're really good."

"Yes, we are." Said Jess, although she didn't sound entirely convinced about that. She looked at Ness for support.

"So, how about it?" Mike pressed. "Do you want to go?"

It was a night out, Mike was a nice guy and we got on well. He was no Daniel, but Daniel wasn't an option for many reasons.

"Yes." I said. "Why not?"

Ness gave a squeak and coughed. "Sorry, allergies." She said and turned away coughing as Jess patted her back.

I turned back to Mike as the bell sounded for the end of lunch. "I'll speak to you about it later. OK?" He nodded and walked out of the room. I turned back to the girls. Jess was looking at me with a deeply furrowed brow. "Is something the matter?" I asked.

"Mr Newton? Oh come on, you can do better than that."

I was instantly defensive, this was twice today that someone had expressed their opinion about men that I liked and frankly, I didn't care for it.

"I don't see that my private life is any of your business, Miss Taylor."

Ness took Jess's arm. "Come on." She said softly, pulling her friend away.

Jess looked sad. "I'm sorry." She said, very genuinely. "You're right. It's none of my business." Jess allowed herself to be guided out of the room. As they got to the door, Ness turned back to me, her expression was one of pleading. Oh no… what had I done?

At the end of last semester, Jess had been attacked and raped. She'd spent several weeks in a clinic being treated for post-traumatic stress and I had just trampled all over her with my size eights, forgetting that she might not be emotionally ready for people being harsh with her. I rushed out into the hallway and ran after the two of them. They were stood up against the wall; Jess was resting her head on Ness's shoulder.

I spoke hesitantly. "Jess?" She looked at me, her face full of anxiety. "I'm so sorry for snapping at you, I forgot. Forgive me?"

Jess looked momentarily confused. "No, it's fine, really. I shouldn't have passed comment on your choice of bloke. You're right; it's none of my business who you go out with. This is… other stuff."

"I'm sorry anyway. I shouldn't have said that. It's been an odd day. I'm looking forward to coming and seeing you play."

"Yeah? You must come, we're really good!" She seemed more confident this time. "Ness has got a brilliant voice." She hugged her friend.

"You should get to class." I sighed. "I have the joy of tenth grade."

"Lucky you." Jess grinned. "We have English."

"Swap?" I laughed.

"No, I'm crap at the Civil War, remember?"

I shook my head. "Not any more. Your last paper was excellent, almost like being there." Jess had done very well in a few short weeks, to close the gaps in her knowledge of American history, which arose from being brought up on the other side of the Atlantic.

"Was it?" She blushed and then the two of them started sniggering.

I took a guess. "You didn't copy and paste it off the internet?" I narrowed my eyes at them.

"No, but I did have help." Her eyes sparkled with mirth at not sharing the secret with me.

"You do know that the school has a zero tolerance policy to plagiarism?"

"I didn't copy anything," she said seriously. "That's the truth. I just talked to a couple of people who are really knowledgeable about the Civil War."

Jess's paper was completely original. The books she'd used had been cited, but the colour and detail she'd added had really brought it alive. It was the best thing she'd ever produced for me, the best thing anybody had ever produced for me. It was way beyond high school level. "As long as that's all it was. Anything else and I'll have to re-grade it."

"There wasn't." Jess fixed me with a steady look.

These weren't girls who had ever spun me a yarn, so I had no reason to doubt either of them. "OK. Well, you'd better go." The pair darted off down the hall. I walked back to my class and into the searing joy of teaching a group of tenth graders stuff they didn't want to know. I kicked my door closed, screwed up the warning note and dumped it into the trash.

That evening I smoothed the crumpled piece of paper back out. Since lunchtime my thoughts had coalesced into two main concerns. Why did I need to keep away from Daniel and who out there knew that I was attracted to him anyway? I hadn't told anyone about him and that, more than anything concerned me deeply. Was somebody around here reading minds?

I slept fitfully that night, churning over scenarios in my head. By the small hours of the morning, Daniel Mitchell was America's Most Wanted; with an ex-wife and a brood of blond-haired kids chasing after him. They starved whilst he rode around in a fancy car and taught Astronomy. Let's face it; he was a teacher and he was driving around in a Jaguar XF? There were questions right there and lying awake wasn't going to get them answered. This was the twenty first century and pretty much every question could be answered and every person found from an internet search engine.

I got out of bed and booted up my laptop while I made coffee for myself and fed Lyra. She was still skittish after whatever had spooked her on Thursday night. I glanced at my calendar open on the desk and noticed, with misgivings that I was due to meet a realtor this morning to view some houses in Port Angeles. I wasn't in any shape to be making decisions about houses after two broken nights. Still, I needed to start somewhere.

Into the search box I typed "Daniel Mitchell" and back came forty nine million results. I saw academics, actors, economists, models, theologians, comedians, photographers, doctors and every profession under the sun; but no astronomers. I clicked the images tab and scanned those. There was nobody like Daniel; although there were some beautifully honed male torsos on display, which at this hour of the morning was a little much, even for me. I narrowed my search and put in "Daniel Mitchell Port Angeles". That yielded absolutely nothing. I tried other places on the peninsula: Bremerton, Forks, Sequim, Port Townsend; but whatever I put in gave nothing back. There were plenty of men called Daniel, but not the one I was looking for.

Of course, this was only one line of enquiry and I was starting from the assumption that he was from around here. There was every chance he wasn't. Perhaps he'd just moved here, fleeing the ex-wife and four kids. In that case, using a search engine to try and find him would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

I kept at the search for a while longer; going through the major cities of the Pacific Northwest. I checked the FBI's most wanted, but he wasn't on there. I didn't in all honesty expect him to be. I checked Police Department after Police Department list, but I found nothing. In the end I sat back and laughed at my idiocy.

"Why don't you just ask him about it?" I said to no one in particular. Even Lyra didn't raise her head to that. All this trawling through web pages was lazy, I should talk to him, start with something innocuous like 'away from teaching astronomy, what do you do?' Of course, with the implications of the note, I might not get a true answer. That was the fear.

But I couldn't stay here all morning I had an appointment to keep. I breakfasted, jumped in the shower, got dressed, grabbed my purse and headed out, stopping by my favourite coffee place on the way.

It was quiet for this early on a Saturday, just a smattering of people in here reading papers. I glanced around as I walked up to the counter and my heart stopped. My feet nearly did too. There in the corner, with a tiny cup of espresso and reading a newspaper, was Daniel. My heart re-started and did back-flips.

He wasn't looking my way, so I pretended I hadn't seen him and placed my order. My head wouldn't settle: I wanted to speak to him and I didn't want to speak to him. I was afraid of him and I was attracted to him. I was intrigued by him and part of me wanted to run the hell away! I decided I wouldn't speak and focused instead on the new winter specials board behind the counter.

The Barista took forever to get my coffee, but finally I got it, turned deliberately to the right (away from Daniel), and walked towards the door. But he was suddenly there holding it open for me. He had a beautiful smile on his face and dammit, even his teeth were awesome. I couldn't avoid him now.

"Good morning!" He said cheerily. His smile made me want to both melt into his arms and run away screaming. How very odd.

"Hi!" I replied. My rabbit-in-the-headlights reaction glued me to the floor in the doorway, blocking the exit. Someone cleared their throat behind me and as I took a step towards Daniel to get out of their way, I reeled. My goodness what cologne was he wearing? It was incredible! I felt my knees go and he cupped my elbow, steadying me.

"Are you OK?" He asked, concerned. "Here, sit down." He guided me into the nearest chair and sat down at an adjacent table. I was breathing heavily, my heart was racing and as much as I thought this was to do with how stunningly gorgeous he was, another feeling took over; panic. This was a panic attack! "Have you eaten this morning?" He asked. I nodded, not able to speak and fearful of looking him in the eye. "Do you want me to see you home?" He asked.

"No!" I almost shouted. I didn't want him to know where I lived and then I remembered my manners. "I have an appointment." I added.

"You don't look well. Perhaps you should call and re-arrange it?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm fine." Well, I had been fine, up until the moment I had taken that step towards him. Now I was panicking. Where was this coming from? I wasn't an anxious or nervous person, but Daniel made me both for some reason. I got up and grabbed my coffee. "I have to be going." I muttered and bolted out of the door into the grey misty morning.

As I walked the couple of blocks to the realtor's office, I turned over the escapade in my head, weighing up the confusion between attraction and anxiety. I came back to the note and decided that I wouldn't view it as someone warning me off but as someone looking out for me. I would take their advice and stay away.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three: Mazarin Blue**

That night, I'd arranged to meet Mike outside _The Shed_ music venue. As I approached it I smirked. This guy wasn't in his natural territory and looked distinctly uncomfortable. It wasn't that he was any older than the people around him; he was just dressed too smartly and already looked like someone's Dad. I'd driven past the venue enough times to know that even clean jeans were too smart for this place. I didn't have a great many casual clothes, but I did have a faded pair of jeans which were perfect.

Mike was also trying too hard with his hair. It was differently arranged from work and if he was aiming for casual messiness, then he'd missed the mark and ended up with just a mess. He was blonde like Daniel but not a glorious blond; but a muted, almost mousey blond. However, I wasn't here to compare him to an angel; I was here to have a rare night out.

Mike was a nice guy, but I'd already had to push him away once before. He'd almost hurled himself at me at Forks' Sixtieth Anniversary celebrations back in August. I'd kept him firmly at bay on that first resolute day of my 'no men' rule. With Daniel I was on quicksand with that rule now; but Mike was a work colleague, so as long as we stuck to those parameters, it was fine.

He looked relieved to see me and we joined the line of people waiting to be searched before they went in. "How did the viewings go?" He asked.

"Good thanks. One looked promising, but I'll keep looking. I'm not being too specific right now; I'm just getting an idea of what's around."

"Have you thought of looking in Forks?"

"That's a bit too close to school. I don't know if I'd be happy living and working in the same place. Doesn't it cramp your style meeting students in the grocery store on a Saturday?" I joked.

"Not really, Forks is a nice place. Quiet, nothing much ever happens. I don't really care for Port Angeles."

I shrugged. "I like it." I said cheerily. I liked it even more knowing that Daniel lived here.

We got through security and into the venue. There really wasn't much to say about The Shed; other than it was painted entirely black and had what seemed to be optional lighting. There was a stage at one end and its one concession to Halloween were strands of black bats hanging from the ceiling.

It wasn't long before we discovered other people that we knew. Bex and her guy Todd were here and she got completely the wrong idea about Mike and I.

"Oh my God you two?" She whispered at me, while Mike and Todd went off to get beers.

"No. He invited me to come see the band."

"But…?"

"But what?"

"Oh come on Stephanie, he's a nice guy and there aren't too many of those in the world."

"I'm off men for the year."

"So you keep telling me, but I'm saying that good men are hard to find and he's a good man; so grab him while you can."

"Why don't you grab him?"

Bex looked lasciviously over to Todd. "I like them tall, dark and handsome."

I couldn't resist. "So what are you doing with him?" She laughed. Todd was a Police Officer in Forks and Bex had met him when he caught her speeding last year. He let her go and out of it came a relationship that had blossomed.

The guys returned with beers and as I drank, I cast an eye over the crowd, looking for Daniel. Would this be his kind of thing? Probably not, since he drove a Jaguar. This didn't feel like somewhere he'd hang out in. Why was I thinking about him when he made me feel so uncomfortable? That was obvious; he was gorgeous and I was attracted to him, end of story. I was also more than a little intrigued by why I was being warned off him. I searched the crowd, but he wasn't here. This wasn't the kind of place that angels hung out in anyway. Maybe I'd be better off trying a church?

Todd wasn't the only Forks Police Officer here this evening. I recognised the Police Chief, Charlie Swan. He and his girlfriend came over.

"I can't go anywhere without the Chief being on my tail!" Todd joked.

"Just making sure you're here," replied Charlie. "Thanks for coming to support Ness and her friends. It means a lot to me." Charlie lifted his beer in acknowledgement.

"It's a pleasure, she's a great kid." Todd continued.

"And Mike, nice to see you and… Stephanie isn't it?" I nodded; glad he'd gotten my name right. I wasn't a Steph, I was most definitely a Stephanie. Charlie smiled. "It's almost a Forks High School staff night out."

"It's certainly a student one," said Bex. "Have you seen how many there are at the front?" Bex pointed towards the stage.

"Yes, out in force. It's what I like to see." Charlie turned to me. "Do you come here often?"

Heather, his girlfriend, good-naturedly poked Charlie in the ribs. "Excuse me! Are you hitting on another woman right in front of me?"

Charlie realised what he'd said and laughed. He pulled Heather closer, "I was only making conversation; it just didn't come out the right way." He grinned and kissed her hair.

"To answer your question Charlie," I said. "No I don't. This is the first time I've been here."

"I hadn't been until Ness joined the band, but I like it now. What do you think?" He enquired of Heather.

"Well, it's not somewhere I'd usually come, but that's what I'm about -not being found where you'd expect me to be. Well, apart from Sunday mornings."

Heather Scott was the Pastor of Forks Baptist church. She didn't look at all like a Pastor, she looked… well; normal. She'd moved to Forks over the summer and had come to the school in early September to introduce herself. She was already well liked, mainly because she always pitched up on her visits with an enormous box of cookies for the staff. A very short time after her arrival, the gossip went around that she was dating Forks' Police Chief. Eyebrows were raised but then lowered, as the Police Chief and the Pastor proceeded to conduct themselves in a manner befitting their roles.

It was ironic that he and Heather were dating. I'd heard that Charlie's previous relationship had broken down, because his ex-girlfriend had fallen in love with the former church minister. The gossip about that had been downright ugly. That was the downside of living in a small town; you couldn't keep secrets from anyone.

Heather seemed to be having an impact on Charlie Swan. Last year, the few times I'd met him, in his capacity as Ness Masen's guardian, he'd seemed like a guy with the weight of the world on his shoulders. But now, there was a happiness that radiated out of him.

Ness was an intriguing girl. The Ness that had started at Forks High the same day as me, was completely different to the girl she was now. In those first few weeks understandably, given that she'd just lost her parents, she was incredibly shy, unsure of herself and watched everyone like a hawk; as if she was waiting for something bad to happen. Partly a combination of finding her feet and her friendship with the supremely confident Jess, Ness was blossoming into a truly delightful young woman.

Unlike other girls who applied their make-up with a palette knife, Ness never wore make up and was naturally beautiful. Everything about her was lovely; she was graceful, elegant, articulate, funny and incredibly intelligent. Once she'd settled and gotten through a very rocky first semester, she started to produce some good papers and had pulled herself up from a low B grade to garnering straight A's time after time.

In any other school, she would've been despised for being so 'perfect'. But not here, and perhaps Mike was right to claim that Forks really was a nice place to live; because everybody liked Ness. She had a natural charm that drew you in, nobody had a bad word to say about her and everyone was expecting at least a Dartmouth acceptance in the next few months. Bill Greene had high hopes for her. She was brilliant, beautiful and I knew from their looks, that she was adored by virtually every male student in the school. But she'd resisted the attentions of all of them, apart from Ricky Scott last year. Since they'd split there'd been no one else. The only likely candidate was Dan, her friend Jess's twin brother. Dan and Ness were clearly good friends and touched and hugged constantly; but that was all. It had never tipped over into them being boyfriend and girlfriend.

The Taylor twins and Ness were in a band with two previous Forks High students; Ricky Scott – no relation to Heather – and Zak Foster. It was their band we were here to see tonight, although there was a support band to get through first, and a case of getting through it turned out to be. They weren't easy to listen to, not my kind of music at all.

Todd bought us more beer while the stage was re-set. I was stood by a pillar and became aware that my right shoulder was being stroked. Mike was leaning on the pillar and I glanced to the side to see his thumb running along the top of my shoulder. Despite my rebuff in the summer, he wasn't giving up. I was a little annoyed. This wasn't a date; the word 'date' hadn't been mentioned. He'd asked me to go with him to see a band that I'd already been invited to go see. If this was a lazy way of asking me out on a date, then I wasn't impressed. I decided to make sure that he was aware of where the boundaries were and took a step forward, away from the pillar.

Finally, the band came on stage to loud cheers from their friends. Ricky was on drums, Zak on bass, Dan played guitar, Jess was on keyboards and Ness was singing. Ness had told me that their name, Mazarin Blue, had been picked at random out of a dictionary in the school library one lunchtime. They'd had to come up with something quick and it'd stuck, when none of them could think of anything else.

Surprisingly, for a band from Forks they were good. Actually, no, they were very good. I laughed when to the side of me I caught sight of Charlie bobbing his head in time to the music. They played a mix of covers and things they'd written themselves, but what really stunned me was Ness; I couldn't take my eyes off her! Gone was the shy girl of a year ago and in her place was someone who owned the stage. She had the crowd eating out of her palm and every move she made whipped them up into a frenzy. I couldn't get over that this was the same girl who sat quietly and unassumingly in my classes each week. She was a different animal!

They closed their set to wild applause, Charlie was whooping and whistling with the best of them, as was a guy behind me; whose whistle seemed to go right through to my bone marrow. I turned and was stunned to see that it was Will Randall from my Astronomy group. He was right at the back of the room, almost buried in the shadows. He didn't look my way; his eyes were fixed firmly on the stage like every other guy's. Ness sure knew how to get everyone's attention.

A little while later, Ness, Dan and Jess made their way over to Charlie. He was enthusiastic in his praise to Ness and her face lit up. Jess made me laugh, by sticking her fingers in her mouth to indicate that she wanted to be sick.

"Yeah, yeah Chief, we know." Jess batted away his compliments, her face lighting up as she saw someone approach from behind me. I turned and saw that it was Will. Jess's eyes narrowed and she put her hands on her hips. "You'd better write nice things about us." She said.

Will lifted his hands as if she'd accused him of something. "Have I ever given you a bad review?"

"No, but there's always a first time. If you want my opinion – and you're getting it – I think that was damn near perfect. What d'you think Dan?"

Dan's expression said he wasn't as convinced as Jess that their performance was perfect. "It was OK." He qualified.

"Pfft!" Jess blew a raspberry at her brother and then turned back to Will. "Anyway, how are you? What've you been up to since I last saw you? Still a freelance journo? Not thinking of getting a proper job, then?" Jess's very northern British way of speaking sometimes had me wishing she came with subtitles. She gave no quarter to anyone who wanted it 'in English'. It came out and you dealt with it.

"Journalism _is_ a proper job!" Will laughed.

"Yeah but freelance? That's just one step up from freeloader."

Will laughed again. "I am not a freeloader and if you don't quit taking pot shots, you might find me writing that bad review."

"No you won't, you love me really." Jess grinned at him. "Besides, you need all the friends you can get with that tragic obsession with sci-fi you have."

"I have friends." Will asserted.

"Imaginary ones, no doubt. I mean, other than me, when did you last speak to another human being?"

Will guffawed.

"There's no point fighting it." Said Dan, you'll never win, you know it. Once she's got her claws in, she never lets go. I did warn you that you're not Jess-proof."

"So I'm finding out. Thursday; at my Astronomy group for your information."

"Astronomy?" Jess sounded appalled, which made me smile. "Which other sad fuckwits do Astronomy ?"

"I do." I said and Will looked behind him.

"Stephanie, Hi! I didn't see you there."

"Oops." Jess was instantly embarrassed and clapped her hand over her mouth.

"You called our history teacher a fuckwit, Jess? Oh well done." Ness giggled.

"I'm sorry Miss." Jess smacked Will on the arm, shaking her hand as if she'd hurt it. "Now see what you've made me do."

Will was incredulous. "I didn't make you call Stephanie names." Jess stuck out her tongue at him. "Oh, very attractive." Will replied.

"Bite me." Jess drawled, Dan and Ness sniggered.

Will leaned down to her. "One of these days girl, I will." He turned to me, thumbing at Jess. "Is she like this in your class?"

"You mean does she ever shut up? No." I smiled.

Jess gasped. "Miss! I've gone right off you, you were my favourite teacher."

"Does that mean I am?" said Mike. He'd been looking for a way to get into the banter, but with Jess that was never easy. Dan dropped his head onto Ness's shoulder; the pair of them were trying very hard not to laugh and failing miserably.

Jess looked her science teacher straight in the face. "I think you're about fourth. But she," she said, pointing at me and eyeing me with amusement. "Has gone right to the bottom."

I laughed.

Will stayed around to talk to Jess. More correctly he stayed around to be constantly insulted and never get a word in edgeways. He was laughing a lot whatever she was saying. For her part, I got the feeling that Jess was flirting. She was another one that like Ness, I couldn't understand why she didn't have a boyfriend.

Mike and I got chatting and Bex was right, he was nice. When he stopped trying to impress me and was simply himself, he was easy to be around and kept me laughing; especially with the catalogue of failed class experiments he was racking up.

It was getting late and I was tired. Bex and Todd said goodnight, as did Charlie and Heather. Charlie stunned me by hugging Ness. He'd previously given the impression that he held the entire world at arm's length. Perhaps he'd had a beer too many and had let the world in, or maybe Heather was having more of an influence on him than I thought. Whatever was going on, Ness didn't mind and was hugging him back.

Eventually, Mike and I left and there were a predictably awkward few minutes, where I weighed up whether or not to invite him back for coffee. But as we walked a block or so I was uncomfortable with that. I didn't want to go back on my promise to leave guys alone, I needed space. There was also someone else that I'd rather invite back for coffee. On an intersection Mike and I said goodnight. I thanked him for a great evening and turned in the direction of my apartment.

The streets of Port Angeles were quiet, but I loved the night and felt safe here, I knew where I was. I stood for a moment, looking up into the clear night sky. At first glance it was easy to think that every star was pure white; but once you looked at them in detail, you began to see that each one, depending on their temperature, was a distinct colour from red through to blue. I picked out the familiar sight of Orion the hunter; identifying the key stars of Betelgeuse, Rigel, Saiph and Bellatrix. I walked on, picking out other constellations and naming their principal stars.

With my head engaged in things above, I wasn't paying attention to what was going on here on Earth and stepped off the sidewalk right into the path of an oncoming car. It screeched to a halt beside me and the fender came to rest against my leg. Reality came crashing back in and the stupid thing I'd just done hit me like a rock.

I hoped I'd fainted, but I couldn't be sure of that. It was entirely possible that I'd died and gone to heaven; because gazing down at me where I lay on the road, was Daniel.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four: Trojan**

"I absolutely insist on taking you home. I'm not letting you walk."

"I'm fine, really!" I asserted. Daniel was arguing with me. This wasn't what I'd expected angels to do.

"You blacked out, you hit your head. You should go to the hospital…"

"I'm not going to the hospital!" I snapped, cutting him off. I was confused, I was sore and worse, I was embarrassed. Of all the cars to walk out in front of, I'd had to choose his. My hand reached up to my head where a lump was forming. I pulled it back, it wasn't bleeding thank goodness. "And I _can_ walk home." I added, getting to my feet and completely failing to stand without swaying. Daniel caught me, both hands grasping my upper arms.

"That's it." He said, guiding me firmly towards the passenger door. "You're going to the hospital."

I didn't argue; a really bad headache was setting in.

Port Angeles County Hospital was no place to be on a Saturday night; even more so on Halloween weekend, where it looked a lot like '_Night of the Living Dead_'. Tonight the place was heavy on drunken vampires, most having stuck their fangs through their bottom lips, so their mouths really did run with blood. Daniel seemed to find it annoying. Thankfully, I didn't have a long wait. The staff checked me over, deemed me to be suffering from no more than mild concussion and discharged me. I made my way back over to where Daniel was sitting. He'd moved into a quiet corner and was engrossed by something on his phone. He snapped it shut as I approached and eyed me with concern.

"I'm free to go now."

"I'll take you home." He said quietly. I didn't object, I really was very tired.

I followed him back out to his car and slid into the passenger seat. Here, concentrated, his cologne was even more alluring than it had been in the coffee bar. I wondered what it was, making a mental note to tour the men's fragrance counters in town. I laid my head back against the rest as he started the engine, asked for my address and pulled smoothly out of the parking lot. On my lap was the care sheet about concussion that I'd been provided with. I'd told a lie that Daniel would be with me all night, so that I could leave; that had gotten me an envious look from the Nurse. Sat here now, a little more clear-headed than I'd been on the drive to the hospital; the conflicting feelings were back: Attraction and fear. They were finely balanced, neither one dominant enough to let me make a decision about him. Whenever I concentrated on what attracted me, the fear came back. When I focussed on the fear, the attraction claimed my attention. In that, he was an enigma.

I didn't live far from the hospital, I could've easily walked; but how many times did I get to ride in a beautiful Jaguar? This was a bonus. A teacher's salary didn't pay for fantastic cars like this; my four year old Ford was more my pay grade. I settled into the cream leather seat and enjoyed the ride. Daniel pulled up outside my apartment building and I got out. I walked to the door and fished in my pocket for my keys and when I put the key in the lock he was by my side.

"People who have concussion shouldn't really be alone." He said hesitantly. It was a statement of fact rather than him pressing for something he wanted.

"I'll be OK." I said. "I feel fine."

"I'm working tonight, so I'll be at the end of a phone if you get concerned, need to go back to the hospital, or want anything. This is my number." He handed me a cream business card printed with his name and number. I flipped it over; there was nothing else on there.

"I didn't know there was an observatory around here."

"There isn't. I don't work in an observatory."

"What do you do?"

"I work on computer systems, it's not very exciting." He smiled, slightly embarrassed. "I started an Astronomy degree in College, but… life sort of took a left turn. I dropped out and ended up working on computers. So, if you need anything tonight, give me a call. I'll be up." He backed slowly away. "Even if you can't sleep and… just want someone to talk to." He raised a finger to bid me farewell, got in his car and drove away.

A little smile started at the corner of my mouth and spread across the rest of it. The angel had given me his phone number. More than that; without making the complete hash of it that mere mortals would, he'd placed the ball subtly but firmly in my court. Well played Daniel, well played!

All idea of sleep was instantly banished and I sprinted up the stairs, while in my head Audrey Hepburn sang 'I could have danced all night' from _My Fair Lady_. I had an actual chance here! I dwelt on those few precious minutes and thanked God that it was his car I'd walked out in front of. The stars had brought us together!

He worked on computers? Well that could be anything, from fixing home PC's through to programming missile defence systems. With a car like that it could well be the missile defence systems; which would explain the card with nothing but his name and number on it. In that line of work, it wouldn't be a good idea to tell people where you lived. There was nothing to fear about him, it was just me reacting to him being supremely gorgeous. How many times had someone like him washed up on my beach? Never! No wonder I wasn't sure how to handle it, he was being nice! He'd insisted I go to the hospital, he'd taken me there, stayed with me, brought me home again and even given me his number to call if I wanted anything. 'Hi Daniel, it's Stephanie. Could I get a serving of you, please?' I snickered at what I really wanted; knowing that any calls I made would be for slightly more realistic requests; like milk or Advil.

I opened the door of my apartment. Lyra jumped down off the window ledge and ran off. She was still acting strangely after whatever had spooked her. On the floor was an envelope that had been pushed under the door. It wasn't addressed, but as I opened it, I was left in no doubt that I was the intended recipient:

**This is your second warning.**

**Stay away from Daniel Mitchell**

**For your own safety.**

My insides turned to ice. Who the hell was doing this? They knew where I worked, they knew where I lived and they knew that I knew Daniel. What was this, a real-life version of the _X-Files_? Was I under surveillance? I went to each window, checked the locks on them and pulled the blinds down. I walked around my apartment, opening drawers, cupboards and closets, checking for obvious bugging devices. I found nothing and slumped onto the sofa. It was nearly two in the morning now but I was wide awake and not for a reason I wanted to be.

What really concerned me was that I needed to look for the bugging device in my head. I hadn't mentioned Daniel to anybody and I couldn't think that Will, Jane, Seth, Anthony or Marie would be actively warning me off a guy who they hadn't met before, either. So who or what was getting into my head? I wracked my brain for unguarded comments that I might have made to anyone over the last ten days, but I drew a blank. I'd said nothing. I'd mentioned him to no one.

I didn't know where he lived, tonight was the first night I'd had his number and I hadn't called him. However, I had emailed him, to book the course and to respond to the circular emails he'd sent out. I stared at my computer. Was there something on there that shouldn't be? A Trojan horse? That was the only possible route someone would know that I knew Daniel; that had to be it! But it still didn't explain how they knew where I worked or where I lived. Still, with access to my computer, they might be able to retrieve anything.

Lyra issued a terse meow to let me know that it may be the dead of night but that didn't stop her from being hungry. I got her some food. I got a glass of water for myself, tilted the kitchen blind open and looked out at the lights of Port Angeles, mulling things over in my head. I needed to get my computer looked at as a matter of urgency. I didn't trust using it until I knew it was clean. Should I tell Daniel about the notes? He'd invited me to call him for anything, even if I wanted to talk. I couldn't deal with the computer at this hour, but I could speak to him and I should at least ask why I was getting the notes.

I picked up the card and called the number. It rang twice before he answered.

"Daniel Mitchell."

"Hi, it's um…"

"Stephanie? Are you OK?"

"Yes, I'm… fine." Oh be honest Stephanie. "Actually, no I'm not."

"Do you feel sick?" He asked urgently.

"No, it's nothing to do with the concussion. Look… When do you finish?"

"I don't have a set time, do you need me? I can come over."

"No, it's not urgent. But, I wondered if you could stop by on your way home. There's… something I need to ask you."

"If you're up, why don't I come over now?"

I thought for a second. "OK."

"I'll be there in about twenty minutes. What apartment number are you?"

"Six."

I spent the next twenty minutes wandering aimlessly around my apartment. I cast worried glances at my computer, as if at every second I expected it to explode. I put some coffee on, pulled the first note from my bag and put it with the second. I washed my face and tried not to look as much like death as I felt. By now I must be running purely on adrenaline. Presently the external door chime went and I released the lock to let Daniel in. I opened the door to my apartment as he was walking up the last few steps to the top floor. "Thanks for coming." I said, smiling hesitantly and standing back to let him in.

Where I looked pretty wrecked after two disturbed night's sleep and what was turning into an all-nighter on a third; Daniel looked amazing. I hadn't had the opportunity to study him much in the hospital, or in the coffee bar; but now that I could, he was even more astonishing and even more unsettling.

He was dressed in brown pants, a cream casual top and a brown leather jacket. He must be around 6ft 4 as he was about a foot taller than I was, and I was 5ft 4. His eyes were dark brown and his features were crisp and defined. His skin was flawless and incredibly pale, apart from the slight suggestion of dark rings around his eyes. Working nights always took its toll somewhere. Forget computer systems, this guy could rake it in from modelling. Perhaps he did that on the side? That would be another explanation for the Jaguar.

"Coffee?" I asked, walking through to the kitchen.

"No thanks. I won't sleep later."

"It's keeping me going right now." I said and poured myself another cup.

"You have a cat?" He asked.

"Yes, are you allergic?"

"No, they don't like me."

"Oh Lyra's very good natured." Or she had been, until recently.

"So what's the matter?"

I exhaled. Here went nothing. "Something was under door when I got back." I walked over to the dining table and picked up the two notes. I cleared my throat. "Daniel, is there any reason why somebody would be warning me off you?" His expression changed in an instant. It became guarded and I knew that this guy had secrets.

"Yes." He said simply. He didn't elaborate.

I exhaled, glad that he was being honest. I held out the two notes. "I got these. The crumpled one was on my desk at school on Friday. The other was pushed under my door while I was out."

Daniel took them from me and read them. He stood absolutely still, as if he were the fixed point in the universe around which everything else orbited.

"I'm sorry you've gotten these and yes, there are very good reasons why you should stay away from me." He handed them back. Gone was the guarded look, it had been replaced by sadness. He took a few steps around the room and dragged his fingers through his hair.

"Is it to do with work or your personal life?" I needed to know what I was dealing with.

"It's what I do." He said simply.

"Your job?"

His nose wrinkled. "I can't…"

"It's classified?" He nodded. Of course, if he worked at such a high level then the less I knew the better. "So it isn't an ex-wife chasing you around the country?"

He smiled. "No. There is an ex-wife, but she's not chasing me around the country." That stunned me and my face must have betrayed me. "That shocks you?" His eyes looked amused. "Everybody has a past Stephanie and I'm sure you do too."

I nodded. "So this is because of the work you do? You're not on the list of America's most wanted, or something?"

Daniel snickered. "No."

"Just checking."

"You already have." He raised an eyebrow at me. "If I'd gotten a note like that, I'd be checking every most wanted list from here to Maine."

I smiled apologetically. "Guilty."

"Don't feel bad, it's what people do. Did you find anything about me?"

"No."

"Good, that's the way it's supposed to be."

"You operate under the radar?"

"That's a good way of putting it, yes. But the question you really need to be asking, is how do these people know that you know me?"

"My computer, it's the only way, I've not mentioned you to anybody. I think there must be something intercepting my email. That's the only thing I can put it down to; unless they've fitted a chip into my head, or somebody around here can read minds."

He pointed to my laptop. "Do you want me to take a look?"

It made sense. "Go ahead. "

He booted up the machine. "Nice wallpaper." He said, looking at the picture of the small Italian hill town that brightened my computer desktop.

"It's San Gimignano in Tuscany. I've always wanted to go there." In the gloom of the winter months the picture helped me to dream of the sun; of warmer days and of course, warmer nights.

He certainly knew his way around a computer. He found what he was looking for buried in my registry and set about deleting it. "I find it hard to believe that you accidentally downloaded this. Your computer's incredibly clean otherwise. Usually, if you make a habit of clicking on stuff, all sorts of crap ends up in here; but this is pretty much untouched. Have you had anybody in to look at it?"

"No. It's never given me any trouble. It's only eighteen months old."

"Do you take it to work?"

"No, I have one in class. I email the stuff I need back and forth."

"Hmm… I think somebody's been at this."

His words struck fear into me. "Somebody's been in here?"

"This couldn't have downloaded itself; it had to have been installed."

"Am I in any danger?"

He stood up and shrugged his shoulders. "I honestly don't know."

Panic was starting to rise in me and my chest felt tight. "What should I do?"

"The most important thing is to keep calm." His expression wasn't the slightest bit calming. He looked as concerned as I did. "I need to call someone." He pulled out his cell phone and dialled a number, turning away to talk. "Hi, it's me. Sorry to call right now but we have a problem. No, not that. Can I meet you?" He spoke in a quick businesslike manner and arranged to meet the person a few miles away. He snapped the phone shut and looked at me. His eyes were showing stresses that I didn't want to see. "We'll try and figure out who this is and keep an eye on things here."

"Surveillance?"

"Don't imagine blacked out cars parked down the street, they're a lot more discreet than that. Please don't worry."

"That's easier said than done."

"I know. But try. If you notice anything, anything at all, don't hesitate to call me. Otherwise, I'll see you next…" He was abruptly cut off by Lyra hissing and spitting at him from the doorway of my bedroom.

"Lyra!" I went to pick her up to reassure her.

"It's OK, I told you cats don't like me. I should be going." He went to the door and opened it.

I shooed my angry cat back into the bedroom and shut the door. "I don't know what's gotten into her; she's usually so placid. But ever since Thursday night she's been almost neurotic."

Daniel shut the door again and looked at me intently. "What happened?"

"I don't know, I woke in the middle of the night and she was yowling and hissing and tearing around the apartment like she was possessed."

"I think whatever happened to your computer happened that night."

"You think?"

"I'd put money on it. You got the first note the next day, right?"

"Yes."

"Figures. Anyway, I'd better go. Try and get some sleep and please, don't worry."

"I'll try not to." I said lamely. Fat chance of that.

"I'll see you Thursday?"

"Do you think I should be there? Perhaps I should quit? What about the others, do you think they're being sent messages too?"

"I don't know, but don't stop doing something you enjoy just because of this. If we all caved at the first sign of trouble, these people will always win. You're doing nothing wrong in attending an Astronomy class; my concern is why they're targeting you at all?" He opened the door again. "I'll see you Thursday. OK?" He gave me a hesitant smile and I tried to respond, but I was too keyed up. He was half way out the door when I asked another question.

"Daniel? Is what you do, dangerous?"

He turned back to me. "Sometimes, yes. But you're absolutely not to worry about me. Get some sleep Stephanie. Goodnight." He closed the door and I listened to his footsteps fading as he went down the stairs and the click of the external door as he exited onto the street. My apartment was at the back of the building so I couldn't watch him go. I checked that the windows were locked and that my door was bolted.

Lyra made a dash for where Daniel had been sat. She looked like a calico puffball and she growled, as she rubbed herself along every surface to re-mark her territory. I thought back to Thursday night and wondered why, if there'd really been someone in my apartment, that I hadn't seen them?

I tried to sleep but it eluded me for hours more. Finally, just as the sun was peeking over the horizon, I fell exhausted into the arms of Morpheus.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: Game On**

I was surprised to discover who part of my surveillance team was, when Chief Swan was waiting to speak to me on Monday morning. We borrowed Bill's office for a few minutes.

"Anything that happens here in Forks, you tell me and only me. Don't leave a message at the station, call this number." He handed me a card with his cell phone number on. "I want to reassure you that this matter is in hand and it has my personal attention." He was reassuring, the calm at the centre of a storm. Knowing that the Police were involved meant that I wasn't imagining things. But on the other hand it made it worse. Daniel's job must be very sensitive, if a couple of notes and a bugged computer resulted in Police protection.

I couldn't help but glance up and down the street as I walked to my car, expecting to see the tell-tale signs of people watching my apartment building. But, as Daniel had said, there were no blacked-out vehicles on the street and whoever these people were, they were discreet. They were also good at their job, because it all went quiet, very quiet. There were no further notes.

Life returned to normal and even Lyra calmed down. Thursday came along and I went to the session with my head held high, resolute that I wasn't going to let anyone stop me from doing something I enjoyed. Daniel was already there when I arrived and as I pulled to a stop, he opened my car door, anxious to find out how the week had gone.

"There's been nothing." I smiled. "Whoever you have looking after me, it's working."

His eyes still looked guarded. "I'm glad."

"How's your week been?" I asked, wanting to keep the conversation going. We walked over to the trunk of his car.

"Busy."

"You work nights a lot?" We started to pull out the telescopes.

"Yeah, I don't do too many day shifts."

"Did you find out if any of the others are getting notes?"

"They're not."

I wasn't fearful of him now, the weekend incident seemed to have allowed my mind to choose a side and it had chosen liking him. Well, that was the official version. I may be coming across all matter-of-fact, but I adored him. The job was not to let him see that and to keep it light and friendly. Anthony pulled up in his Dad's Volvo again, closely followed by Will and Jane. Will was driving an amazing car that I didn't recognise. I wasn't that interested in cars, but Anthony seemed to be and went over to it. Marie seemed as similarly disinterested as me and came over to help carry the telescopes over to the view point.

"So, you and the Biology teacher, huh?" Will said later, as he worked at his telescope next to me. He couldn't' have picked worse timing, as Daniel was right there overseeing what I was doing.

"There is no me and the Biology teacher." I said. "He just invited me to go see the band."

"Jess thinks you've got a thing for him."

"Well she's wrong, he's just a friend."

"Jess tends to be right about most things."

"No she isn't, she just bludgeons people around the head until they see it from her point of view."

Will doubled up in laughter. "I'll tell her you said that."

I smiled. "It's meant nicely. She's a force to be reckoned with. I don't know anybody who gets out alive from a verbal spat with her."

"That's true; I've yet to win a point."

"And yet her brother's so different." Jane appeared next to Will. "He's so laid back." I continued.

"I don't know him that well."

"I haven't figured him out yet. Jess is very much 'what you see is what you get'. She says exactly what she thinks. Dan is the Mariana Trench compared to her. There's a lot going on in him that never sees the light of day."

"Perceptive." Will said.

"I'm a teacher; I'm paid to know stuff about kids' heads."

"And I'm paid to teach you astronomy," interjected Daniel. "So look down there." He grinned at me and pointed at the eyepiece. I willingly obeyed.

I thought his enthusiasm to speak to me at the start of the session might carry over to the end, but he just packed the stuff away and drove off. His eagerness to speak to me earlier was simply to establish that I was alright, nothing more. I'm sure he didn't spend his days lying awake totally infatuated with me, as I was with him. I was making a big assumption that he was single. He'd mentioned an ex-wife, but not a current wife or girlfriend. Night or day, this impossibly beautiful man was always on my mind. By Friday morning I was back to willing the week to pass on fast forward, or something to happen to give me an excuse to call him.

Things may have gone quiet on the subject of Daniel, but work was keeping me busy. It was making me stressed too, seeing as once they'd found their feet, one or two of the Quileute kids were starting to kick off. The Reservation school had closed last summer because of low numbers. Most had transferred to Forks High, apart from the few whose parents had chosen to home school.

Now that they were used to the place, a couple of them were proving to be a bit of a challenge to keep motivated and focussed. There were two in particular in twelfth grade, Korvin Silversmith and Jackson Green who were leaving me with a headache at the end of each class. It wasn't anything I couldn't cope with; it was just wearing. The Forks kids were, by and large, a compliant lot. They rarely gave any teacher cause for concern.

More unexpected was trying to keep the trio of Jess, Dan and Ness focussed, especially after Jess and Dan's eighteenth birthday. Dan in particular was one step away from me alerting Principal Greene and as November wore on, he gave me cause to worry that he could be doing drugs.

I caught him stumbling out of my storeroom one lunch break, smirking and massaging his mouth. He looked like he'd gotten dressed in a rush and his hair was all over the place.

"What're you doing in there?" I snapped, checking the room and straightening several piles of text books and other supplies.

"Nothing." He replied, still rubbing his mouth. I looked at him, he was either drunk or off his head on some other illegal substance. "Are you sober?"

He nodded and mumbled "Very" from behind his fingers.

"What's wrong with your mouth?"

"Um… Dentist, anaesthetic."

"That'll soon wear off."

He chuckled. "I don't want it too." And off he walked, staggering slightly. I remained unconvinced about his sobriety, especially if he was thinking novocaine was fun.

But other than my students giving me worries, nothing else did and a dull monotony returned. I started to live for those two hours in Daniel's company on Thursday nights. Then finally, the worst happened: It rained and he cancelled the session. I raged around the apartment like a caged animal because I'd been denied the two hours that I lived for. I couldn't settle to watch TV, to read or to even catch up with my friends on Facebook. I stared petulantly out at the rain streaming down the windows. But we'd been fortunate in having five consecutive dry Thursday nights. In this part of the world I should be thankful we'd had any.

The buzzer on the main door went. My brow furrowed, I rarely got visitors. "Hello?"

"Hi Stephanie, it's Daniel."

"Oh hi, come on up." I pressed the button to release the door and jumped around the room with glee. He was here! He was dropping by unannounced. Woohoo, go me! I flew about the place, straightening it up and then stopped by the mirror to check how I looked and went scarlet. I was already in my pyjamas! But the knock on my apartment door left me no time to change and I sheepishly opened the door in a fetching combination of maroon top (no bra!), checked pants and the fur-lined Navajo-inspired moccasin boots that I used for winter indoor footwear. He however looked like a slightly damp Greek god.

"Ah," he said, smiling. "I was going to invite you for coffee, but I see you're not dressed to go out."

"I could be, come in." As he passed me I got a hit of his cologne and rolled my eyes in ecstasy behind his back. It was like drinking aphrodisiac and right now I was very open to suggestion, even if that was walking down the street to get coffee in my pyjamas. "I'll go get dressed."

"Don't, we can do it another time. I was also calling to see if everything was OK. I wondered if you wanted me to check your computer, make sure that it's still clean?"

"Sure, go ahead." I indicated to my laptop. "I'll make some coffee."

"Just a small one thanks."

He settled down at my computer while in the kitchen I waited for the coffee to come through. He worked quickly and was soon satisfied that there was nothing there. "It's clean." He said.

"Great." I handed him the coffee. He could stop by anytime and do pointless things to my computer, I wouldn't mind. I went and sat on my usual spot on the sofa but didn't do my usual trick of curling my knees up, hoping that it might encourage him to sit next to me. He didn't, he chose to sit a frustratingly respectful distance away, in another chair.

"So, how's your week been?" He asked.

"OK." I replied, taking a small sip of coffee. "Slightly stressful, but nothing out of the ordinary. Yours?"

"Much the same."

"Are you working tonight?"

"Later yes. Thought I'd stop by, make sure you computer's fine and that you weren't being held captive by anyone." He smiled.

"No such excitement. It's the same old same old around here." I hooked one side of my hair behind my ear and twirled a strand of it between my fingers. It was never the same old same old now he was around. "Got any plans for the weekend?" The words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.

"Just work."

"Even at the weekends?"

"Yes. Why do you ask?"

"I um… wondered if we might go get coffee. Seeing as I'm not dressed for it now."

"I'd like that." I was instantly ecstatic. "When were you thinking?"

"How about early Saturday? I have another appointment with the realtor, but I could meet you at say, seven thirty?"

"That sounds great. Don't take this the wrong way, this isn't me trying to get out of it, but I can't guarantee that I'll be there. It's the nature of things that sometimes I get detained into the day. I'll be there if I can. Could I have your cell phone number again and then I can call and let you know?"

"Sure!" I jumped up and wrote my number on a piece of paper. He folded it and slid it behind a credit card in his wallet.

"Thanks. Well, I'd better be going." We walked to the door and I reluctantly held it open for him. "Sleep well." He said in soft, rich tones that made me want to ditch my duvet and wrap myself up in him.

"You too." I said, momentarily clueless to where he was going.

He snickered. "No chance of that."

"Oh yeah, duh!" I marvelled at my own stupidity.

"Goodnight." He said, with a gaze that lingered just a fraction too long and had me believing that he felt the same way about me that I felt about him. I closed the door, leant back on it and punched the air. I dumped my 'no men' rule into the trash, this was game on!

Friday was, by some margin, the worst day I'd ever had in teaching. For some reason the place had turned into Delinquent High, as class after class were antsy, uncooperative and in the case of Korvin Silversmith, downright abusive. He spat at me. Not that I really cared right now, I was on cloud nine, with Daniel resplendent in a white loin-cloth, wings unfurled and plucking away on a harp. Silversmith was a troublesome fly. Still, Mr Greene could deal with him and I despatched the insolent kid off to Bill's office.

By rights, at end of the day I should've been on my knees, but I wasn't. The thought of spending Saturday morning with Daniel was the elixir of life. I methodically got on with my preparation for Monday and graded the last of the outstanding papers to make sure that I had an entirely clear weekend. Just in case… I smiled to myself. A knock on my door wiped the smile off it and I turned to see Mike Newton.

"Hi." He said. "How you doing?"

"OK. Tough day."

"You're telling me. Is there something in the water?" He exhaled loudly. "Did someone feed them all sugar for breakfast? I've never known a day like it."

"Me either. Anyway, what can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to go over to Seattle one weekend before Christmas? I need to do some gift-buying and wondered if you'd like to come too? There's an outdoor skating rink at one of the precincts, I thought that might be fun."

"Ice skating?" I laughed. "I haven't done that for years."

"You can skate?"

"Well, I don't know about skate, I can keep upright and move forward if that's what you mean?"

"I'm about the same." He laughed. "Would… that interest you?"

I thought about it. I should really keep my options open, I didn't know if this potential thing with Daniel would ever happen. But even so, Mike was a friend. "Yeah, it would. I haven't been to Seattle for a while; it would be good to go."

"Great. I was thinking around the tenth?"

"Let me check." I pulled out my day planner. It was free; it was always going to be free, I did nothing else but teach. "That's good for me."

"OK, I'll get ferry tickets. Do you want me to book some rooms in Bremerton for the night before?"

"Yeah, that'd be great; we can make an early start for the city then."

"OK, I'll get on it. You have a good weekend. Doing anything?"

"Meeting up with a friend. You?"

"Helping out at the store." Mike's parents ran the Sporting Goods store in town.

"Keeping your hand in?"

"Not really, staff shortages. Everyone's sick."

"Well don't bring it here." I laughed.

He left and I settled back into my work, my head dwelling on what I imagined tomorrow morning would bring, hanging out, even for an hour or so with Daniel. I wondered if I could persuade him to come look at houses with me? I smirked as my head instantly started pretending that we were Mr and Mrs Mitchell. "Oh Stephanie, you're a hopeless case." I said out loud to an empty room.

But shortly after seven the next morning, the call I did not want to get arrived.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be able to get away."

"I understand." I did, but I was gutted all the same.

"I'll call you later when I know how things stand. We'll fix up another time. I'm really sorry to have to do this to you, I really don't like letting people down."

"But duty calls."

"Yeah…"I heard his long sigh down the line. "Anyway, you have a good day."

That was going to be impossible, now that it stretched out in front of me like a yawning chasm of bleakness. Outside, the sun was peeking over the horizon on what looked like a beautifully clear winter's day. It may be sunny outside, but inside my heart there was a downpour. I fixed myself my own coffee and glared at Lyra, as if it was somehow her fault. Guess I'd be viewing those houses alone, then.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six: Heart of the Night**

We never got to go for coffee, he was never free. However, there was one consolation; he was calling me on a regular basis now. The phone calls were never long or particularly earth-shattering; it was simply a lot of me not admitting how tough work was and a lot of him not telling me anything at all about his work. But we were talking and that was good.

I didn't want to dump this on him, but work was awful. Korvin Silversmith appeared to have singled me out for something and was doing his best to disrupt every class I taught him. But it wasn't just me, he was abusive to others. One afternoon, Ness stepped in front of me to defend me against yet another volley of abuse, and he turned on her with such vitriol that I thought he'd hit her. He didn't, but instead delivered an odd parting salvo.

"Trust you to defend her, you freak!" He spat at Ness.

"Don't speak to her like that." I levelled back.

"She should be grateful I speak to her at all. She's an animal." He stalked away.

"You're hardly a shining example of humanity yourself." I said.

"I'm more than she is." He called back.

"I really don't know what's gotten into him." I said, but there was no reply from Ness. I looked at her, she had gone pale. "Ness? Are you alright? He's most likely angry about having to come to this school, it's becoming a familiar tale. I'll speak to Mr Greene about him again." She still didn't respond. "Ness?" She finally registered that I was speaking to her.

"I'm fine." She said and hurried out into the hallway.

When I left my room a few minutes later, she was huddled in the corner talking to someone on her phone. As I walked on, Dan Taylor stumbled out of Bex's empty room, looking even more dishevelled and drunk.

"What is it with you?" I snapped. "Do I have to call your mother?" He stood up straight and was instantly alert, tucking his shirt back into his pants.

"No, I'm completely fine, nothing to worry about." His face carried an inane grin.

"What've you been doing in there?" I walked into Bex's room. Her store-cupboard door was open and it was its typical disorganised state. "Have you taken anything?" I glared at him.

He shook his head. "No." He looked perfectly normal and alert now, He smoothed down his hair and as he did so I noticed the unusual silver plaited ring on the fourth finger of his left hand. There was a girl involved somewhere. I knew the signs. I smiled.

"What?" He said, acting innocent, but I could see that he knew that I'd guessed what he'd been up to.

I laughed. "It's what the back seats of cars are for. They don't write songs about making out in teacher's storerooms." He blushed. "Go on." I said and he walked quickly away.

But apart from the amusing incident of catching Dan, my job was becoming a slog and any time that Daniel called was precious. He lifted me right out of it, to a better place. Life had its good points and he was one. That there'd been no further communication from whoever had sent me those two notes was another and in addition to that, I had a trip to Seattle to look forward to.

Mike and I drove over to Bremerton on the Friday night, checking into separate rooms of a motel and found somewhere cheap for dinner. I'd invited Mom to Port Angeles for Christmas and I was going to Seattle armed with a list to make sure that everything was done before she arrived. In the morning we caught an early ferry and made our way into the city, finding the ice rink that Mike had mentioned. It would be good to start the day with some fun!

I laced up my skates; I hadn't done this for years and there was every chance that I was going to go smack on my ass, although at least I could walk in them, which was more than Mike could. We were giggling like teenagers before we'd even got out on the ice. But once out there something clicked and years spent rollerblading meant that I instinctively knew what to do, even if I wasn't confident of being able to do it. I left Mike clinging to the side as I tentatively made my way out into the clockwise circulating crowd. My heart was in my mouth as I inched my way around the circuit, occasionally being startled by small children whizzing past at incredible speeds. But I managed an incident-free circuit and returned to where Mike was clinging to the handrail for dear life. I smacked into the side behind him and grabbed on.

"You've got the hang of it." He said. "I can't remember how you do this."

"Did you ever rollerblade as a kid?" I asked him.

"Yes."

"Well think of it like that. Do exactly what you'd do on rollerblades."

"OK, but if I fall flat on my ass, I'm blaming you." I laughed, but Mike took my suggestion and even more hesitantly than I had, made his way around the rink. I caught up to him and together, eyes fixed on the ice immediately in front of us we made our way around. There was nothing stylish about it, but we were upright and moving. Ahead of me on the curve I saw a woman gliding effortlessly around the ice. I tried to copy her, to straighten up and look ahead, rather than at the ice. Then some three year old speed demon whizzed by, frightened the life out of the pair of us and down we both tumbled, with me coming to rest rather embarrassingly on top of Mike. I was fine but Mike had hurt his wrist. It didn't look anything more than having fallen on it a little too heavily, but he was nursing it and we moved to the side so he could check it out. He pushed his sleeve up and gently circulated it.

"I don't think there's any damage done, just muscular." He said.

"Do you think you should get it strapped? There's a medic over there." I pointed to the corner where someone was already having attention for a similar injury.

"Might be a good idea. You keep on going; I'll see you in a bit."

Mike made his way over to the med station and I carried on round; keeping an eye out for the elegant woman again so I could copy her. I was gaining in confidence and tried to look ahead, scanning the crowd walking by. It was a bad move. There, in the throngs of pre-Christmas shoppers, was Scott; his arm around another girl. He looked happy and the girl he was with was very pretty and not some bimbo that I'd imagined he'd hook up with. I I really didn't want him to see me, so I tried to move back to the centre where the confident, faster skaters were. Inevitably I collided with someone, rebounding off them and collapsing into a heap on the ice. I tasted blood in my mouth. I ran my tongue over my lip and felt the sore bit where one of my teeth had broken the skin.

I turned away from where Scott was, to guard against my shame of being discovered, but a gloved hand was stretched out to me.

"Shall I help you up?" I looked up to see the smiling face of the woman I'd collided with. It was the elegant skater I'd been admiring. I couldn't help noticing her eyes; they were the most incredible light brown or gold even. She was about my age and clouds of tawny hair cascaded over her shoulders. "Oh, you've cut your lip! Hang on, my husband's a Doctor, he's coming now." She helped me up off the ice and over to us came a tall, young blonde haired man. I didn't think it was possible to find a man who could equal Daniel in beauty, but here was one. He too had the same odd-coloured eyes. He produced a clean handkerchief and inspected my lip.

"Hold that over it for a few minutes, it'll stop. Let's get you to the side." The woman and her husband guided me over to the safety of the rink side. I stared at Scott's retreating figure; he was oblivious that I was here. Seeing him again was a shock; but after all, I was in Seattle and he did live here. I kept one eye on the direction he'd gone in, much as I did if I found a spider in my apartment. I wanted to know where it was all the time, in case it decided to come back.

"I'm sorry for crashing into you." I said to the woman. "I saw you earlier, you're a great skater."

"Thank you, I don't get enough opportunity to do it. These places are fun aren't they?" Her smile was amazing and the cheerful decorations in the precinct were nothing compared to the joy and spirit of Christmas that was radiating out of her.

I agreed, still keeping one eye on the retreating spider.

"You don't look happy." She said.

"Ah…" I sighed. "I'm fine, I just saw my ex. That's why I crashed into you. More fool me for thinking I could look ahead."

"Don't worry, it happens all the time."

"Let's have a look at this." The Doctor removed the handkerchief from my lip. "That's pretty much stopped. But you keep it, just in case you need it again." He handed me back his handkerchief

"Thanks. Can I return it to you?"

"There's no need. Will you be OK now?"

I said I would, thanked them and off they skated into the crowd. Mike re-appeared half a minute later with his wrist strapped.

"Just a precaution." He said, indicating to it. What did you do to your lip?"

"I bit it when I crashed into someone."

"Perhaps we should get off the ice before anything worse happens?" One last time around?" We skated with more confidence now and decided to stay a little longer, doing easy circuits now that we were more secure on our feet. I should've learned about not looking into the crowd, but I did and found myself on the ice for the second time with a bleeding lip, when I caught sight of Daniel.

This was more of a shock than Scott had been and I sat frozen to the ground, oblivious to the ice water seeping through my pants. He was walking by with another blond-haired man and they were talking animatedly. Daniel was carrying a clutch of bags, including one from the most exclusive jewellery store in the city. I prayed he wouldn't see me and my prayers were answered, he didn't turn and look. But as they passed, I saw something that meant every wonderful thought I'd ever entertained about having a future with Daniel, was null and void. The man had his hand on the middle of Daniel's back. Daniel must be gay.

"Come on, up you get." Said Mike, holding his good hand out and hauling me back to my feet. "You're all wet, we'd better find somewhere to dry off and warm up." Mike looked at me when I didn't reply. "Are you OK?"

I nodded that I was, but inside I was silently crying. Daniel had only ever been interested in me as a friend, he had a partner and I was completely the wrong sex to be interesting to him.

Mike and I left the ice and I spent time in the ladies washroom trying to dry my pants under the hot air dryer. I was desperately sad and I didn't know how I'd find the enthusiasm to get through the rest of the day, especially at the hands of the relentlessly cheery Mike. But I had to, our ferry wasn't leaving until six and so, having gotten as dry as I could, we headed off to shop.

I constantly scoured the crowds looking for another sighting of Daniel and his guy, but I didn't see them. Daniel's man had been a similar height to him and equally blonde, although with thick wavy hair much like a lion's mane. That was as much as I could remember, other than the sight of them walking through the crowd enjoying each other's company. That was burned on my retina.

It wasn't until we came to the exclusive jewellery store that I knew Daniel had been in, that I became slightly more animated. I speculated what he might have bought in here: A watch for his lover, a necklace for his mother, something for himself? One thing was for sure, if Daniel could afford to shop here, then he was loaded. I'd promised myself, in times gone by when I'd visited the store with Scott, that one day, when I had the money, I'd treat myself to something really special from here. Today felt like that day. I didn't have the money, but there was no better cure for a broken heart, or even a bruised one, than some retail therapy.

From the selection of pendants I picked out a tiny amethyst one. However, I stared with longing at a huge beautiful black sapphire and diamond pendant that had the evocative title 'The Heart of a Star'. Around the large black central stone were diamonds, arranged in a swirl, much like a catherine wheel might throw out sparks as it span. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. The assistant caught me looking and gleefully told me the price – half a million dollars. Dream on Stephanie! The amethyst I purchased made me wince enough, when the assistant charged my credit card with three hundred dollars. What an expensive way to cheer myself up! Still, it was very beautiful and I had a badly bruised heart.

I worked through my list and at lunchtime we found a little place to eat. By then Mike's sunny personality was warming me up and I was starting to enjoy the day. Scott was ancient history, Daniel was a tragedy; but hey, I still had the world's most gorgeous male friend and as a bonus, Mike was turning out to be potential boyfriend material.

"And this is for you." He said at the end of the meal, placing a small black bag on the table. "I know it's early, but Happy Christmas."

"Mike, you shouldn't have." I opened the gift to reveal a simple, elegant gold chain. I was truly touched. "Thank you!" I leaned across and kissed him on the cheek. It was something I could wear every day and so very 'me'. Where part of me longed for the amazing black sapphire and for Daniel, this was my reality. I was practical and sensible and the type of woman who never bought anything, unless it went with at least three other things in her closet. He couldn't have chosen anything more perfect. "I didn't get you anything." I chided him.

"It really doesn't matter."

"It's lovely."

"I'm glad you like it."

As I dried my hands in the washroom later, it amused me that this trip to Seattle had turned out to be a snapshot of my love life. On one hand there was Daniel and the beautiful jewellery. I longed for both of them, but they were out of my league. The jewels, because I couldn't afford them and Daniel, because I was the wrong sex for him. On the other hand there was Mike. He was attentive, caring, generous, and funny. Like the jewellery he'd bought me, he was also very practical. I may long for the _Heart of the Star_, but my reality was the plain gold chain. Should I give things with Mike a go? What was it that Bex had said about snapping up a good man while you had the chance…?

Mike pulled up outside my apartment building. It was late and had been a long day, but a good day. We'd talked on the way home and we'd kissed on the car ferry back to Bremerton – hardly romantic, I know. But there again, why should breathless romance be anymore satisfying than a relationship with someone you've know for a year, and have quietly come to realise is a great guy and attractive too, if he didn't try too hard with his hair. We kissed goodnight but I didn't invite him up, I needed some sleep - I'd walked all over Seattle today. But he invited me out to lunch tomorrow and I'd said yes to that.

But sleep would have to wait; my apartment was a scene of devastation. This was no intruder; this was simply the actions of a bored cat. Lyra had pulled over the Christmas tree, just as she'd done two years ago. As I righted it she rubbed around my legs as if nothing was wrong. I scolded her and she looked at me with that smug almost-smile she had. I laughed, scooped her up and cuddled her; she had me wrapped around her little finger.

"So I have a new boyfriend." I told her. "His name's Mike and he's a teacher at my school. You will be nice to him won't you? None of that silly hissing you were doing at Daniel." To be fair, Daniel had told me that cats didn't like him. Lyra looked at me with her usual 'whatever, just keep the food coming,' way that she had. I put her down and started to scoop up the fallen baubles from under the tree. My hand stopped in mid-reach for a blue one that had fallen into the pile of fake boxes I'd put under the tree. In the middle of them was a large white bag from the exclusive jewellery store that I'd bought my pendant from earlier today. I looked back over to the sofa, where my small white bag was leaning up against it. The folded white gift tag hung on the outside of the bag. I reached forward and carefully opened it.

There, written in beautiful calligraphy was a message to make my heart stop.

**Stephanie,**

**You can have the heart of the star.**

**Merry Christmas. **

"No, this can't be?" I said to myself. I picked up the glossy white bag and looked inside, pulling from it a large black velvet box. My heart was in my mouth as I slowly lifted the lid to reveal what I feared. There, on the black velvet inside was the piece I'd been coveting, 'The Heart of a Star'. "Oh my God!" I said, dropping the box in shock. The lid snapped shut again like a clam. I stared at it like the impossibility it was, my breathing ragged and racking up to panic levels. How did anybody know I wanted this piece? How did they get in here to deliver it? Had Daniel done this? After all, I'd seen him with an identical bag. "No, don't be stupid." I said out loud. How could he have know that the piece of jewellery made me think of him? He'd been in the store before I'd even seen it. Whatever had happened here, there was one inescapable fact: Someone had been in here and that gave me a legitimate reason to call Daniel. I scrambled over to my purse, found my cell phone and was about to call him, when I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was nearly eleven on a Saturday night. If he was with his guy he'd hardly appreciate being called at this hour. I texted him instead, asking him to call when he was free. I put the box back in the bag and put it on the coffee table. Exhibit C in the collection of notes and now a gift I was getting. At least this wasn't warning me off him. On the contrary, if someone was reading my mind, then they'd told me in no uncertain terms that I could have Daniel. But their information was out of date; I knew that that wasn't possible.

It wasn't two minutes later that my phone rang; the display said it was Daniel.

"Hi, are things OK?" He said.

"Not really, no."

"Another note?"

"A gift."

"A gift? Do you want me to come over?"

"I don't want to take you away from any … thing. It's late."

"Time isn't an issue if someone's getting to you." He said brusquely. "Do you want me to come over?" He repeated.

"Yes." I said quietly.

"Ok, I'll see you in a little while."

A half hour later I opened the door to him and again my heart pined at his beauty. Whoever this man was, he was a lucky guy to have Daniel.

"Somebody's been in here again?" He guessed and I nodded. He looked at me seriously and again the panic was back. I placed my hand on my midriff and bent over to try and calm myself. He placed his hand on my shoulder and rubbed gently up and down my upper arm. "So, what'd they give you?"

"Jewellery."

"Jewellery?" I pointed to the bag on the coffee table. "From that place? Woah. You know, in any other circumstance, it would be nice to receive something from there, yes?"

"Yes."

"Have you looked at it?" I nodded. "And? Do you like it?"

"I couldn't love anything more!" I whined. I placed my hand on my forehead and the enormity of what this was suddenly hit. A great rasping sob escaped me.

"Hey, hey, come here." Daniel gently guided me over to the sofa and sat down beside me rubbing his hand lightly over my upper back as I tried not to cry and totally failed. "OK, so someone's mysteriously buying you jewellery."

"It's not just that. It's what it is!" I told him the thing I feared the most. "Somebody is reading my thoughts!"

"I don't think…"

I cut him off. "I know it's impossible, but how would someone know to buy me the _exac_t piece of jewellery I wanted and write a gift card that expressed _precisely_ what that piece meant to me? Explain that?"

"May I look?" I nodded. He picked the bag up from the table and brought it back over, sitting down again next to me. He read the card. "You can have the heart of a star. Interesting. Why would you want the heart of a star? They're cold, dead things."

I scoffed. "It's not meant literally. Besides, it's…" I couldn't explain it without revealing how I truly felt about him. "Oh it's irrelevant." I sighed.

He opened the box to reveal the beautiful black sapphire in all its exquisite glory. "This is irrelevant?" He smirked, trying to break the tension. "An expensive irrelevance."

"I know. I bought the smallest thing in the store for myself today. That was stupid thing to do." I added, muttering.

"Hey, jewellery's never a stupid thing to buy. I was in there today too. I picked out a new watch." He showed me it, I registered the make. Yep, this guy was loaded. "So you were in Seattle today?"

"Yes."

"We could've hooked up. My brother's not convinced that I have any friends."

"Your… brother?" That brought me up short. Oh brother, why didn't I think of that, instead of going straight for the 'he's gay' explanation?

"Actually, he's not strictly my brother, it's a little… complicated. So why were you in Seattle?"

"Christmas shopping with a friend. That, and ice skating."

"You went ice-skating? We walked by that." He chuckled. "There were lots of people falling over."

"I was one of them," I pointed to the healing cut on my lip. "Twice." Daniel bent down to inspect it, bringing with him an intense wave of his cologne and setting off desires deep inside of me that made me want him so much! For a fleeting moment I thought that he might kiss me, but he pulled away.

"That looks sore."

'It does, kiss it better!' I yelled inside the privacy of my head and then realised that my head might not be that private after all. I was suddenly on edge again.

"What's the matter?" He said, noticing that I'd tensed up. Back came my hand to my midriff as I felt the panic rise. I concentrated on calming myself, breathing deeply in through my nose and exhaling slowly though my mouth. "This is getting to you, isn't it?" I nodded. "I'm sorry, but I can't explain it. Notes warning you away from me I can understand, but gifts of beautiful jewellery are something else. It is beautiful and if it's want you wanted, then regardless of where or who it came from, you should wear it. It'll look stunning on you." He said softly.

"I can't go to work in half a million dollars worth of jewellery!"

"Why not? Does it matter what it cost if you love it? Do you love it?"

"Yes!" I brushed away tears from my eyes again. "I adore it; it's the kind of thing I dream of." He didn't know I was talking about him too.

"And now you have it, so what's the problem? Well, apart from not knowing who gave it to you. Perhaps there's someone who adores you?"

I looked at him sceptically. "I'm Stephanie Chambers, a High School Teacher originally from Medford, Oregon. Why would anybody adore me?"

He pursed his lips and a little smirk appeared at the corner of his mouth. "I don't know, I'm scratching my head over that one too. I mean, you're nothing special, right?"

A corresponding smirk appeared on my face. "Right."

"Perhaps it's the Biology teacher?"

Oh God, the Biology teacher. "No," I said sadly. "He already bought me jewellery."

A furrow appeared on Daniel's brow. "He… bought you jewellery? I didn't think you were dating." His voice tailed off and I picked up something in his tone that I didn't want to hear; sadness. I _did_ have a chance with him and I'd just made a monumental fuck up. I put my elbow on my knee and ran my middle finger up my nose, digging it into my forehead between my brows. Crap. Crap, crap, crap!

"I said yes to him today." I replied quietly. "I thought…" I couldn't admit to thinking Daniel was gay. "I thought you weren't interested in me."

He said nothing for almost a minute.

"You already know that things aren't straightforward; but believe me, I'm interested in you."

"Did you buy me the jewellery?" I wanted to know for sure.

"No. I didn't buy you that. I bought you this." From his pocket he produced a small, black velvet box, identical to the one that held the amethyst that I'd picked out for myself. He opened it and handed it to me. It was a simple, very elegant teardrop-shaped black stone pendant. "It's a black sapphire. Ironically, it's from the same collection as that." He pointed to the Heart of the Star.

There weren't words, but somehow I managed to squeak out "It's beautiful, thank you."

"You're welcome." He said, equally softly. "Lousy timing though."

"I didn't know… I didn't think...!" The tears started to flow and he placed his hand on my back again.

"I don't want to come between you and this guy. Things in my life are very, _very_ complicated and maybe it's best, from what you've already experienced, to stay away from me. There are _very_ good reasons why you should. But, I'm not going to lie to you Stephanie, I like you, I like you a lot and I wish I'd said something sooner." Tears ran down my face. "Be my friend for now and in time, perhaps when things aren't quite so difficult and you're not with someone, we can perhaps be closer."

"That can't be now?" I could easily ditch Mike.

"I still don't know who's warning you off me." I turned to look at him, his eyes were tense. "I can't tell you why, but it's very serious. It means there's been a… security breach somewhere along the line." He spoke softly but gravely. "I don't want to put you in danger and me being with you puts you in that danger. So as much as it pains me to say it, you're better off with the Biology teacher. Can you understand my point of view?" I nodded. I didn't want to, but I understood all too well. "Friendship is all I can offer right now and even that will be a case of as and when, because of how things are. Thursday nights are about the only thing I can guarantee, so don't miss any of those, OK?" He smiled and I tried to smile through my tears. "The pendant has a title too. It's called 'The Heart of the Night'. I thought it was appropriate, seeing as you like star gazing. But also, it represents what my life is. My life is the night right now, dark and…"

"Beautiful." I finished, cutting off whatever he was going to say. "I love the night. My other gift today was a plain gold necklace. Very practical, very sensible, very me and very Mike. That's his name by the way."

"Mike. That's my competition?"

"Yes." I smiled. "This," I said, touching the black sapphire teardrop, "Is also very me, but my inner me; the bit that nobody sees, my spirit, if you like. I love the dark, the moonlight, the starlight, the scent of moonflowers and night jasmine. You've bought me a visible sign of my spirit and you couldn't have chosen anything more perfect."

He smiled and looked up at the clock on the wall.

"It's gone midnight, I should go." He stood up and I did too. We walked to the door.

"Are you working tonight?" I asked.

"Yeah."

"Saturday night? That's bad."

"It's Sunday morning now."

"Oh yes."

"You should get some sleep. Doing anything nice later?"

I pulled a face. "Lunch with Mike." I admitted, sadly.

"Enjoy it. Say, how do you fancy seeing a movie sometime? Is that something friends could do?"

I beamed a smile. "Yes! I'd really like that. But no blood and gore, I don't do that stuff."

He laughed. "OK, no gory movies. That's no problem, I don't like those either. Anything else you don't like?"

"Zombies."

"OK, no zombies. Vampires?"

"Vampires I can cope with."

"But that's blood?"

"Yeah, but the films usually involve gorgeous men. I can sit through two hours of that no problem." I laughed and Daniel smiled. "Actually, it amused me a couple of weeks ago. One of my students is obsessed by vampires and I saw her at The Shed downtown – do you know that place?"

"Yes."

"Her band were playing. Turns out she knows Will Randall. Did you know he's a freelance journalist?"

"No."

"Anyway, they were talking and it struck me the other night when it was on TV, that Will looks exactly like the guy in the vampire show that she's a big fan of. No wonder she was flirting madly with him."

"You watch vampire shows?"

"Oh, no, it was just on in the background, I was grading. That's all I do. I grade papers, prepare lessons and feed the cat."

"And go to astronomy on Thursdays?"

"And that."

"I'll see you there." He opened the door. "Unless you get any more correspondence, in which case call me, immediately; day or night it doesn't matter. I need to know." He was serious again. "Goodnight."

And off he went into the night with my heart.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven: White Spells Danger**

The last couple of weeks before Christmas at school were awful and the only thing that kept me going was thinking of Daniel. I wore his gift to me every day and to hold it between my fingers somehow made him feel closer. I was being grossly unfair to Mike, I was well aware of that. But as Daniel was a secret from everyone for fear of, well… more warning notes, I fooled myself into thinking that the duplicity was OK.

It became general knowledge that Mike and I were a couple and our friends seemed really happy about it. I smiled at their congratulations, but I was constantly wary that someone would ask why my smile didn't quite reach my eyes. Thankfully, I had the excuse of some really tough days. The school was not a happy place. Tensions were high and behaviour standards according to Bill were at an all time low.

"I don't think I'll manage to do anything other than sleep through Christmas." Grumbled Bex, at the end of a particularly tough day. A fight had broken out at lunchtime and that had been the catalyst for an afternoon of skirmishes everywhere. It was no surprise to find that Silversmith was in the thick of it. Bex and I, along with half a dozen other teachers, were despatched outside at the end of the day, to make sure there were no further incidents as the students left campus.

Mike caught up to us as we came in from the parking lot. "Do you fancy a movie tonight? There's something decent playing in Port Angeles for once. Bex, you and Todd up for it?"

Yeah, that would be great." She said.

Mike looked at me. "Don't tell me you're grading tonight, we're three days out from the end of school, you can't possibly have anything that can't wait."

"No." I smiled. "I'm not grading, a movie would be great."

I kind of knew what would happen and it did. Daniel called with the same idea and I had the heartbreak of telling him that I was already going with Mike.

He laughed. "He's always getting in before me."

"Yeah? Well call earlier," I laughed. "I'm up from 5am."

"You are? That's good to know. I'll get my requests in earlier then."

I met Mike, Bex and Todd outside the movie theatre. Mike placed a large tub of popcorn between us and put his arm around my shoulder. The empty seat beside me was suddenly filled and I didn't have to look to know from the distinctive cologne, that it was Daniel. I turned my head a little to look at him. He faced resolutely ahead but I could see the hint of a smirk on his face. Ever so slightly he turned in my direction and raised his eyebrows. I smiled back and Mike's arm tightened around me as we settled back to watch the film.

Mike saw me to the door of my building and he took forever to be done kissing me goodnight. I was almost checking my watch. Finally he left, but as I got through the door of my apartment, the chime went on the external door.

"Hello?"

"It's me, your stalker." I laughed and pressed the door catch release for Daniel to come up. He bounded up the stairs and into my apartment. "Once I knew you'd be there I thought I might as well go. I wanted to see the film anyway and when I saw the open seat you beside you, it was too good to resist." His eyes twinkled with mischief and he threw himself onto my sofa as if he belonged there. "So, we got to go to the movies together after all. Maybe I should tag along all the time?"

"I didn't think we were supposed to be seeing one another?"

His countenance looked like I'd punctured his good mood. "True."

"Any progress on that?"

"No, we're no closer to knowing." He sighed.

I tried to sound encouraging. "There's been nothing for weeks now, perhaps they've stopped?"

"I don't think so. Do me a favour, would you?"

"What?"

"Keep your relationship with Mike really public. Go places, be seen together. Don't give the impression that I'm any part of your life."

"But I can still come to Astronomy, yes?"

"Absolutely, but we should keep that strictly pupil, teacher; just as you would at school. I don't want to give whoever this is, anything further." His wonderful mood of only a minute ago was gone, he looked deflated and I kicked myself for having said what I did. "I should go." He said, looking at this watch.

"Don't go, you're always rushing off."

"But you're right, we're not supposed to be seeing one another." There was almost agony in his face.

"What's the matter?"

"I want to be around you, but when I am, it means that I could be putting you in greater danger. I should stay away."

"No. Please don't. They can send me all the notes they want, but you're my friend and I don't give up my friends easily. You told me that if I stop doing what I like doing, then these people will always win. I like seeing you and you're welcome here anytime."

"Thank you."

An angry squeal from Lyra ripped me from sleep and set every atom in me on edge. I sat up in bed, disorientation quickly giving way to fear. I almost cried out when from the living room next door there was a crash. I grabbed my phone on charge by the bed and fumbled through the contacts for Daniel's number. I hit it and he answered on the first ring.

"Stephanie?" His voice was anxious; there was no way I should be calling him at this hour.

I struggled to get the words out. "There's… somebody… in… my…"

"I'm coming over!"

His phone went dead. Help was on its way, but until then I was left to deal with whoever this was.

I got out of bed shoving my feet in my moccasin boots. I looked around for something to use as a weapon and hit on the base of my bedside light. I unplugged it, ripped the shade off and wound the power cord around the base. It was heavy and long enough for me to use it two-handed like a baseball bat. I went to the bedroom door and listened. I heard nothing. I turned the handle and peeked through the crack. Still nothing. I opened it fully and noticed the cold immediately. One of my windows was wide open and Lyra, fur all puffed up in alarm, was sat on the window ledge. The crash had come from the vase that had been on there and it now lay in pieces on the floor.

"Lyra! I hissed. We were three floors up; if she fell she'd die! I inched forward, trying not to scare her, calling her to come down. By some miracle she did and scooted off. I went to the window, stuck my head out and looked down. The alleyway behind the building was deserted. I looked at the window and noticed with horror that the lock was broken. It had been forced.

It felt like an eternity until the external door chime went. I let Daniel in and opened my apartment door. He got to me in super-quick time, paused briefly in the doorway with a facial expression that looked like he was snarling; before striding over to my desk, picking up an envelope I hadn't noticed on it and ripping it open.

"I didn't see that." I said pathetically, wanting so very desperately for him to take me in his arms and hold me. "The window's open. The lock's been forced…"

"It's for me."

"The note's for you?"

"Yes." He handed it to me.

**Mr Mitchell,**

**This should give you a better idea of what you're dealing with. Leave her alone, before we make you.**

"I don't understand, how's this supposed to give you a better idea of what you're dealing with?"

"Clues." He said enigmatically and sighed.

Lyra appeared from somewhere and started hissing and spitting at Daniel.

"Oh stop it! I snapped, went over to her and picked her up to put her in my room, but she scrabbled wildly in my arms and as she leapt out of them she scratched me. "Ow!" The four inch scratch started to fill with blood.

"You'd better take care of that." Daniel said. "I need to step outside to make a call."

I dealt with the cut. When I went back into the living room, Daniel was still outside and my apartment door was ajar. I went over to it to listen to what he was saying, but he was speaking too quietly for me to hear.

I glanced at the time; it was coming up to four thirty. There was no point in going back to sleep now, I might as well start my day. I went into the kitchen and started the coffee going, pulling out two cups. Moving over to the refrigerator to get some milk I stopped dead, looking at the message that had been written on the dry-wipe board on the door.

**Roses are red, danger is white.**

**Please heed our warning, run for your life.**

I stared at it for a moment, before taking the pad and rubbing it off. A slight movement out of the corner of my eye made me spin round. It was Daniel, he looked sad.

"I saw what they wrote." He said quietly.

"I'm not running anywhere; you're not the one making me scared."

"That's because you don't know me."

"You've been nothing but nice to me, why is it so important that we stay away from each other? What do they think I'll do, sell state secrets to North Korea? Do you know who this is now?"

"I don't know who it is, but I know what I'm looking for."

"You got a clue out of that note?"

"Yes."

"Well I'm assuming your line of work is code-breaking then?" He looked at me with a furrowed brow. "OK, I know you can't say anything to that."

"No."

"Coffee?" I indicated.

He shook his head. "No. I'll take a look at the window."

He inspected the broken catch and looked outside into the alleyway. To my surprise didn't just look down but up too. Of course, whoever this was could quite easily have abseiled off the flat roof. He pushed the window back down and came back over to the kitchen area.

"Do you want me to get someone to fix that?"

"No I can do it."

"I can have somebody here this morning and it'll cost you nothing. I'm the reason it's broken so I'd be grateful if you'd let me pay to get it fixed."

"OK."

"You'll need to leave me your key. Do you trust me with it?" He smiled a little.

"Yes." I reached over to the hook where I kept them and removed my door key.

"I'll leave it at the school office for you."

"You can just push it under the door."

"No, leaving your keys around is not a good idea."

"True." I smiled.

It was a fortunate that I went into every day with copious notes, because I couldn't think straight enough to pull this stuff out of my head. I phoned my classes in, delivering the information without thinking and spending a lot of time playing with the pendant he'd bought me. Touching it made me feel more secure, although heaven knows why. Daniel was incredible, but seemed to come with incredible danger. Was he worth it? Only time would tell.

At lunch, Mike kept asking what the matter was and I made up some excuse about not sleeping well. Tomorrow was the last day before the Christmas break and everybody apart from me was in high spirits. I hoped my visitors took Christmas off, because I didn't want to explain to my Mom why strange messages were appearing and why gorgeous men showed up to my apartment in the middle of the night. In light of what Daniel had said about keeping things very public, I was going to introduce her to Mike. I had the sinking feeling that this was going to be a long few days.

I stopped by the office on my way back to class at the end of lunch to find Chief Swan arriving with my key. "All done." He said.

"Oh." I was taken aback that it wasn't Daniel and then I realised that he worked nights. He was most likely asleep.

"Could I have a word, in private?" He continued. We found a quiet corner. "Look, I'm not at liberty to talk about it. But I just want to reassure you that everything possible is being done to find out who this is. I know it's impossible not to, but please don't worry about this."

I smiled, somewhat lamely. It was impossible not to worry, but it least it had reignited my efforts to get out of the apartment and buy myself a house.

Back in my room I thought again of the message on the dry-wipe board. Danger is white? That wasn't difficult to figure out; Daniel was the palest man I'd ever seen. All this working at night wasn't good for him. He needed to get some sun and get some colour in his skin. With that golden hair of his and a tan to match, it would be even more game over than it was now. But what danger were they referring to? From the little I'd gathered I'd extrapolated that we were talking about the military or government. I tried to keep things in perspective and decided that if I really was in serious danger, then I'd have been hustled into something like a witness protection programme. He could joke around enough to pitch up to the movies and sit next to me. I couldn't wait until the time it would be possible for me to lean the other way and nestle up against what I'm sure was a fabulous body under his clothes. His intense dark eyes were distracting enough and I was already trying to imagine what it would be like to kiss him. Would all this be worth it when I finally got to do that? Or would this turn out to be yet another tale of gorgeous guy turns out to be a total schmuck, as Scott had?

Mike's sudden arrival ripped me from my reverie. "Hi," he said. "I came to see how your day's going." We exchanged a brief kiss.

"OK." I said.

He eyed me curiously. "That good huh?"

"I have twelfth grade next so the day still has the potential to descend into smoking ruins. But right now, OK is as good as it gets."

"Just one more day to go."

"I know and then my Mom arrives."

"I'm looking forward to meeting her; perhaps you guys could come over for dinner whilst she's here?"

Mike still lived with his parents, I wasn't entirely sure I wanted his Mom and my Mom getting together. From what I knew of Karen Newton, she'd most likely have a wedding pulled together by the end of the evening. "I'll see what she feels about that, Mom's not a great socialiser."

Famous last words.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight: The Visitors**

It was fine, really; I was glad that she was dating again. It'd been three years since Dad's death and there was no law saying she couldn't have a boyfriend. I just wasn't wild that she'd brought him to Port Angeles for Christmas. Even less enamoured that they'd spent the last three nights having very audible sex in my bed. There was a word for this: Awkward. There was another word that went with it too: Insomnia. I tossed and turned on the sofa-bed in the living room, trying and failing to ignore the sounds of passion emanating from my bedroom. It was turning my stomach; a stomach that was already a huge bowling ball of stress from the events of the last few weeks. I was tempted to call Daniel. But there was no quicker way to get Mom poking her nose into my affairs, by talking to someone at five twenty in the morning. My Mother made the Spanish Inquisition look like a bunch of lightweights. There was nothing else to do, other than lie there hour after hour, with Lyra spark out beside me; staring into space and thinking about life, the universe and Daniel.

There was one consolation in all this and that was the freedom to construct an imaginary world in my head. A world where Daniel and I were together and he was some top Government employee, charged with keeping our nation safe and me incredibly aroused at night. He'd switched to working days in my fantasies and there was nothing I longed for more than those four little words: 'Hi honey, I'm home.' What made this all the more enjoyable was that Daniel had already staked his intention. He'd told me that he liked me, _really_ liked me, and if things were different - if there weren't forces trying to stop us getting together, or if Mike wasn't in the way - we would be together. This wasn't me dreaming of what might be; this was how it _would_ be. Daniel and I would be together in time, so could anyone blame me for keeping my eye on the prize?

It was the early hours of Christmas Eve and I was grateful that I'd gotten everything done before Mom arrived. Sam arriving with her was a shock that had to be tactfully disguised, while I tried to get my head around what was going on in my Mom's life. Mom was changed from the summer. She was slimmer and had bought a more stylish wardrobe. She was wearing jeans; my mother never wore jeans and now, here she was, in those and heels too. Sam was about Daniel's height and had the look of an aging rocker about him; his greying hair was pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. Both of them had a glint in their eye and I should've seen that that wasn't a good omen. Never was the phrase 'at it like rabbits' so apt.

The flashing red light had me grabbing my phone off the coffee table. It was on silent, but I knew who this would be and it was. Daniel, my early morning saviour! He'd been quiet for several days and I was beginning to pine for him. Getting this text message was like getting a drink in the desert.

Daniel: It's been a long night, how're you?

Me: Tired, no sleep for days. Mom and her guy keeping me awake with their antics.

Daniel: Your Mom? Do you want to meet for coffee at six? That place near you?

Did I ever!

Me: That would be great. See you there.

I got up, threw down a bowl of cereal, got washed, pulled on yesterday's clothes (no opportunity to get something fresh from my closet), left a note on the dining table and headed out just before six. Outside the early morning air was bracingly cold. I was glad that even for this short distance I'd put hat, gloves and a scarf on. I walked around the corner and there he was, waiting for me outside the door. What a glorious sight!

"Good morning." He said in his gorgeous, velvety-smooth voice. I desperately wished we could be more than friends right now. I wanted to hug him, but he stepped away and appraised me. "You look tired." He continued.

"I am. I need intravenous coffee. I barely feel human."

"Welcome to my world." He chuckled.

"At least you can sleep during the day. Wish I could."

"How long are they here for?"

"Until the twenty-ninth. I'm already wishing the week away." I yawned and the bolt sliding back on the door couldn't have come a moment too soon.

As much I wanted to talk to him, I was painfully tired and there was every chance that I wouldn't be great company. "I might fall asleep on you." I admitted, as we walked into the smell of freshly brewing coffee.

"That's OK, I have a paper." At this hour we had the pick of the seats and Daniel chose the sofa. I slumped into it and he put the very large cup of coffee down in front of me and I cupped my cold hands around the drink, allowing the warmth of it to defrost me. I closed my eyes and at what felt like the next second there was a little jab in my ribs. I jumped and my eyes shot back open. Daniel was looking at me with amusement. "Don't fall asleep in your coffee." He grinned.

"Hmm?"

"You dozed off. Am I boring you?"

"No." My shoulders sagged. "I'm just so tired!"

He pulled the cushion out from behind him and placed it on the back of the sofa up against the wall behind me. "Sleep," he ordered kindly. "I'll watch over you."

I took a gulp of the warming coffee, put the cup down, curled up sideways facing him and rested my head against the cushion. I looked at him in profile as he opened his morning paper. His skin was freshly shaven and incredibly smooth, as if somebody had airbrushed him into existence. Considering he'd come off the back of a night shift, he looked amazing. I revelled in my good fortune to know such a man, before my eyes closed and I knew nothing more.

"Stephanie!"

"Huh? Wha…?" My Mom's voice ripped me from sleep and I winced as I felt the pain in the back of my neck. My head had slumped forward as I'd slept. I supported my neck as I tried to turn it to look at Mom. She was stood on the other side of the table, hand in hand with Sam.

"You were asleep."

"Yeah." I wiped my mouth, I'd unattractively drooled. Daniel wasn't by my side but over at the counter.

"Why on earth are you asleep in here? What's wrong with your apartment?"

"She was meeting me." Daniel appeared behind them and placed a fresh, hot cup of coffee in front of me.

"Oh hello!" Mom said brightly. "Are you Mike?" I groaned.

"No, I'm Daniel. I'm a friend of Stephanie's. Pleased to meet you." He held out his hand to my Mom and she shook it. He was bundled up in his coat, gloves and scarf again. He must be leaving.

"Likewise. I'm Nancy, Stephanie's Mom." She beamed. "This is my boyfriend, Sam."

Sam and Daniel acknowledged one another but didn't shake hands. Sam looked the kind of guy who absolutely didn't do physical contact with another man.

Daniel turned to me. "I'm sorry, I have to go."

"Yeah, sure. Thanks for the coffee a-a-and the… sleep." I smiled with embarrassment.

"Anytime." His beautiful brown eyes flashed with amusement. "You have a great Christmas. I'll catch up with you in the New Year."

"Bye." I said and off he went. As I watched him leave I noticed the clock on the wall, it had gone nine. "Oh my God, I've been asleep for three hours!"

"On him?" Said Mom sitting down, whilst Sam went off to get coffee. "You lucky girl! He's just a friend?" Her implication was not lost on me.

"Yes, he's a _friend._" I emphasized. "I'm dating Mike, remember?"

"This Mike must be amazing if Daniel there is just in the category of friend. Is there no chance? Don't tell me he's gay? That would be such a tragedy."

"No, he's not gay. It's… complicated."

"Has he got a girlfriend?"

"No, he has an ex-wife."

"Oh. And she's trouble?"

I told a lie. "Yes. Daniel and I are friends, nothing more."

"Well, keep… friends." She raised her eyebrows. "I wouldn't mind being mother-in-law to him."

"Mom!" I laughed.

"So, tell me about Mike."

"Ah… Mike." I said plaintively, landing back in the real world. I sipped my fresh coffee and looked wistfully at the dent in the sofa that had, until a few minutes ago, been Daniel.

Christmas came and went and Mom and Sam had even more loud sex. I resorted to downing shots of tequila to knock me out and for a while it worked, although I hated the hangover the next morning. Once I got to know him, Sam turned out to be a really great guy and I could see why Mom was attracted to his personality, although not his choice of hairstyle. There were flashes of Dad in the things Sam did and the first few times I saw them, it hurt. But this was her life and I didn't want to pass comment, in the way she so freely did about mine.

Mike suggested a night out at The Shed. It would be the sort of thing Sam would like and it would give all four of us the chance to get together. I'd declined the offer of dinner with his parents. Mike was temporary and I didn't want to do anything that moved our relationship on. I was still using the excuse of coming out of my relationship with Scott and not wanting to rush things; but I was aware that I was being a complete bitch and lying through my teeth to Mike. How that had happened was interesting. Daniel had encouraged me to do it and here I was, blithely going along with what he suggested. The irony was not lost on me. Here was a man I hardly knew, who volunteered virtually nothing about himself and yet I was doing what he asked me to do, seemingly without question. I was acting like a puppet on a string again, just as I'd done with Scott. I was a disgrace to womankind.

Mike was right; Sam, and more surprisingly Mom, loved The Shed. Here, Sam didn't look out of place. There was a different crowd here from the last time I'd been. The average age of the audience was older and instead of jeans falling off skinny hips, they were wedged under expanding guts. I was glad Mike has suggested it; Mom and Sam were enjoying themselves. Sadly I wasn't, Mike's car having broken down between Forks and Port Angeles, leaving me stood here on my own. I gravitated back to the pillar I'd stood at before and looked to the back, hoping that Will was here again. He wasn't. I nursed my beer and tried to look interested in the band, finally deciding that I'd leave Mom and Sam to it and head back. It was only a short walk back to my apartment and I could stick a movie on and wait up for them. I downed the rest of my beer and had started for the door, when there was an unmistakeable voice behind me.

"Leaving so soon?"

I span round and my face spontaneously broke into a wide smile. It was Daniel! And then suddenly there was that feeling of being unsettled around him. He looked even more terrifying, as if he was freshly back from whatever it was that avenging angels went off to avenge.

"What're you doing here?" I asked.

"Just hanging out."

I looked around. "With anyone?"

He shook his head. "No. You were leaving?"

"Yes, I was heading back, leaving Mom and Sam to it."

"Fancy keeping me company?"

"Not at all, do you want to come over to mine?"

He shook his head. "Better to stay here." He looked really sad.

"Are you OK? You don't look so good."

"I'm not. I just got some really bad news."

"I'm sorry. Did someone die?"

"Yeah." He ran his hand through his hair and I saw the pain on his face. I reached out to touch his arm. "Actually, I came in search of you. I don't want to be alone right now; this is a tough one to cope with."

The music was loud and this was no place to try and deal with the loss of someone. He didn't want to come back to my apartment, but perhaps there was something else we could do. "Do you want to go for a walk?" I suggested. He nodded and we left the thumping music behind.

We walked side by side through the streets of Port Angeles. It was a mild night and the thick cloud cover blocked out the moon and the stars. He didn't say much, I don't suppose he wanted to give me specifics – after all, he barely knew me. But he was cut up about it; that much I could see.

"It makes you re-evaluate your life when someone so young loses theirs. I hadn't known her that long, but she was one of those instantly likeable people, you know? The kind that slots into your life like she's always been there. I just got off the phone with her partner. He could barely speak he's so distraught and all I could hear was their son crying in the background. He's just a little kid and all he wants is his Mommy, how do you deal with that? What do you say? I had to get out; I feel so alone here, so disconnected from everyone. I can't do anything to help they're so far away."

Can you go see them?"

His phone rang and he answered, telling the person on the other end of the line that it wasn't really convenient for him to talk right now and could he call them back.

"Work?"

"No, a family member. Word's getting around. They're checking I'm OK."

I asked my question again. "Can you go see them?"

"Not right now, perhaps in a few days."

"Are you going to the funeral?"

He shook his head. "I can't." That seemed to really hurt.

"I'm sorry." I said, softly.

"Thanks. I'm just glad I found you tonight."

"You wouldn't have done anything stupid would you?"

"No. This is just loneliness and feeling really…" He stopped and looked at me. The pained look was back again.

"What?"

"I want to tell you something about me, but I'm hesitating. If I do, then it'll change things between us."

I thought about that. "Well, whatever it is I'll still be your friend. That won't change. Is it the kind of thing that would affect anything that might develop between us in the future?"

He nodded. "It might, yes."

"OK, well, let's just throw it into the mix, along with the crazy people who are out to keep us apart and the weird thing I've got going on with Mike."

He eyed me speculatively and I could see him tensing. He stopped on the sidewalk and faced me. "I have a daughter."

"Oh." I paused for a moment. He did have an ex-wife after all and it wasn't the worst thing he could tell me. "I'm not running away screaming." I added.

"The thing is; is that I can't see her."

"Your ex-wife won't allow it?"

"No, circumstances won't allow it."

"This thing you do?"

"Yes. This is the hardest thing about my life. The rest I'm sort of figuring out as I go along, but being separated from her, hurts. Hearing their little boy down the phone just brought back how much I miss her."

This sounded so wrong. "Why can't you see her? You can see your brother?"

"I did mention he's not exactly my brother, right?"

"Yes, but he's part of your family?" He nodded. "So why can you see him and not your daughter?"

"In a word? Danger."

"You've removed yourself from her to keep her safe?"

"Yes."

"And your brother doesn't need that kind of protection?"

"He's elusive at the best of times. If anyone finds him they'll be lucky."

My heart went out to him. Perhaps getting him to talk about her might help? "What's her name?" I asked.

He looked at me sadly. "I can't tell you that. Not until we have this threat eliminated. I'm sorry, but that would be disclosing something far too personal."

"I understand."

"But, I promise, when I can, I'll tell you all about her." His love for her immediately shone through, like sun rays bursting through the clouds. "I will say though, that she's nine and… a handful." He snickered.

"You don't look old enough to have a nine year old daughter." I was taken aback; he really didn't look much older than twenty five.

"I'm thirty one." He grinned at my wide eyes. "Does that shock you? Am I too old for you?"

"No. It's just that you're wearing well."

He laughed and ran his hand over his jaw. "It's this great new moisturiser." He looked at me. "So, me having a daughter doesn't freak you out?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm just sad you can't see her."

"She's confidential information though, so please don't tell anybody about her."

"I wouldn't."

He exhaled sadly. "I'm sorry that my life is so complicated and that I can't let you in right now. But regardless of what I can't say, I want you to know that I really do like you and everything is being done to find out where this breach is and to plug it."

"I know, Chief Swan told…"

He cut me off. "Chief Swan?" His countenance changed. "What did Chief Swan tell you?" His dark look brought the fear of him back, adrenaline flooded my system as the fight or flight response warred within me.

"Just that everything was being done."

"Is that all? The Chief, of all people should know not to say a _word_."

"I think he was trying to reassure me." Which was something Daniel wasn't doing, he was scaring me. "Please don't be angry with him, he was only trying to help."

"I won't. He's more experienced than me in these matters, but he knows how sensitive this situation is. Chief Swan's a good man. To be honest, he's incredible. Doing his job and knowing what he knows, I'm surprised he doesn't flip. But he's as steady as a rock."

"He was very reassuring."

"Good."

We walked around Port Angeles in a circle and ended up outside my apartment building. Daniel saw me to the door.

"I won't come up, I need to go. Enjoy your last couple of days with your Mom and her guy."

"Thanks." I said. "Listening to your Mom having sex, is right up there with root canal for sheer enjoyment."

He grinned. "And thanks for letting me talk. I needed it."

"Anytime. Like the James Taylor song says, 'You've got a friend.' "

"Thanks. Sleep well."

"G'night."

I entered the building and trudged up the stairs. As I reached the second landing the lights went out. I put my hand out for the rail and found myself grabbed from behind with a knife pressed to my throat.

"You think this is dangerous? We're not the ones that want to hurt you." The person who spoke was not the person restraining me. The voice was coming from a short distance behind me. He continued in even, measured and very formal tones. "We're here to make you appreciate the seriousness of what you're getting yourself into. Do not be deceived, my dear; your friendship with Mr Mitchell will, at its ultimate conclusion, result in your death. Maybe not now, but it will in time. We only want to prevent such a shocking waste of a life. Do you know your Bible Miss Chambers?"

"Not really."

"Well, I suggest you get yourself one and look up two Corinthians, chapter eleven verse fourteen and read for yourself the warning about the devil masquerading as an angel of light. You know that Mitchell makes you feel unsettled and you need to ask yourself why that is. We don't want to hurt you; we're only here for your protection. Mitchell is the danger. Mitchell is the one you need to fear. Do not contact him. Do not give him any encouragement for the future. Stay with the school teacher and more than anything, stay in the sunlight, you are safest there. Trust nothing about Mitchell or the shadowy forces that are apparently out to protect you. They are only there to guide you into the trap. And interestingly, they're not here tonight, or would not have tried to make contact. Mitchell knows what he's dealing with in me; but what he doesn't know is the extent of it. Just as he has forces on his side, I have forces on mine." He chuckled. "You're surrounded and you can't see any of them. What a comforting thought. I say again, stay away from Mitchell for your own protection. I think in this you may need a little help. Because I know that the minute we leave, you'll call for his help and you mustn't do that. So your phone Stephanie; if you please?"

I held up my phone and felt it taken from me. What I didn't expect to hear was the sound of crushing metal and splintering plastic.

"Hold up your hand again." I did as I was told and the crushed phone was placed in it for me to take. "That's as much damage as we will do to your life. He, on the other hand has the potential to kill you. That girl he was telling you about? The one who died? You need to ask how that happened, because that's what happens to people who associate with him. Let that be your warning. We will leave you now and I hope that we will not need to pay you a return visit. Keep yourself safe, keep yourself in the light and more than anything keep away from Daniel Mitchell."

And then they were gone. I was left standing alone in a silent, dark stairway. There were no footsteps, no sounds of opening doors and nothing, other than the fading impression of the knife and my crumpled phone, to suggest that anyone had ever been there.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine: Shield**

"That's all. Let's go do the best we can in these tragic circumstances."

With that, Bill Greene closed a quite extraordinary staff meeting. He had delivered no other news than what had already been circulating over the past few days. All he'd done was to outline the strategies for how we would deal with a school that was now reeling from the death of one of its students.

It had been Bex who'd told me, she'd tried to call as soon as she heard the news. While visiting family in the UK for Christmas, Jess Taylor, along with her Grandma had been killed in an explosion.

"I had to get your home number from Angie Cope. I've been trying your cell all day. Is it working?"

"No it's broken." I said, thinking of the pulverised remains of it in the drawer.

"I have something awful to tell you…"

Life couldn't have gotten much worse. But it was about to.

"Stephanie? Could I have a word, please?" I followed Bill into his office and he shut the door behind us. I took a seat and Bill slumped heavily into his large leather chair, placing his elbows on the desk and clasping his hands together under his chin. "I don't quite know how to say this. Of everyone here, you are the last person I ever expected to receive a complaint about."

"A complaint?"

"Korvin Silversmith refuses to attend your classes."

"What?" My voice jumped up an octave. "Why?"

"His exact words? 'She insults me on a moral level'. Whatever the hell that's supposed to mean."

"I insult him on a moral level? What am I supposed to have done?"

"I don't know. When pressed, he wouldn't say. His parents support his decision and have formally requested that he be removed from all your classes. I need to ask you Stephanie, what are you involved in outside school?"

"Nothing!"

"You're not part of any weird cult are you? Sexual… stuff or anything?"

"No! I did astronomy for six sessions last semester, that's the extent of my social life and I'm not even doing that now." I'd made the decision that I wasn't going back.

"Astronomy?"

"Yes, is that morally insulting?"

"No, but it's not what I would've had you down for. Thought yoga might be more your thing. So there's nothing you can think of that would give Silversmith a reason to be morally insulted by you? You don't have any questionable friends?"

"I can't think of anyone." Well, I could, but as I wasn't in contact with him and nobody knew about him anyway, it seemed unlikely to be Daniel.

I walked to my first class of the morning in a daze. The campus was quiet, as if every building was in mourning for Jess. I passed her locker and there, in front of it was a large semi-circle of candles, teddy bears and bunches of flowers. Little notes had been stuck to her locker, as had a picture of her, her arm casually slung around Ness and the two of them beaming broadly into the camera. We all felt her loss, but none more so than the two people who I walked into my room to see sitting next to each other: Ness and Dan. Ness was holding it together, but Dan was the personification of the living dead. He sat there inert and deathly pale. The only signs of life in him were the shallow rise and fall of his chest.

Bill's words in the staff meeting came back to me. "Dan's been very badly affected. Obviously he's lost his twin and we don't know the extent of the bond between them. I have given him permission to stay away from school, but he wants to be here; said it might help take his mind off things. I've said the same to Ness, but she wants to be wherever Dan is. Go easy on them both and give them all the space they need."

I could see why Ness wanted to be wherever Dan was. He looked desperately fragile and on the verge of falling apart. Her job, I guessed, was to catch him if he did. Life was complicated enough for me; but at least I wasn't the one having to cope with the death of my sister, or my best friend.

"Call me Santa Claus, but do I have a gift for you!" Said Bex, as she hurried into my class as my twelfth graders left. She smacked the paper down on the desk. "It's just come on the market and you need to see it." I picked up the house details. It was a two bedroom house in my price range and the picture of it grabbed me immediately. "What do you think?" She asked eagerly. "A possibility?"

"Yes."

"Great, because I've made an appointment with the realtor to see it over the lunch break."

"What, today?"

"Yes! You need to see this house as soon as possible. It'll be snapped up real quick and I want you to move to Forks."

"It's here in Forks?"

"Well duh, look at the address." I wasn't quite with it these days. "I'll come with you, I promise, you're going to love it. It's perfect for you! Don't tell me I don't know you well. See you at lunch!" Bex flitted out of the room as my next hour students filed in.

Bex was right, I did love it and it was perfect. If only it wasn't in Forks. The little white clapperboard house nestled up against the forest edge and gave me everything I was looking for with the added bonus of privacy. All the other properties I'd viewed were overlooked by every house around. Here, the houses were spread out along the street and the neighbouring house was a good distance from it, with the bonus of having a six foot fence running along the side boundary. The realtor had gone to sit in the car while Bex and I had some time in the house alone, but I could feel myself very much at home here. This was indeed a gift of a house.

"I can tell from your face that you love it. " She grinned.

"I do." I admitted. The smile on my face felt unfamiliar. It had been a tough could of weeks and I wasn't used to being happy.

"Are you going to go for it?"

"It's in Forks; I don't really want to live in Forks."

"You're not going to get anything this good in Port Angeles. Look at size of the yard, that's just made for summer barbeque parties."

"If we ever get a summer to have barbeque parties in." The Olympic Peninsula wasn't known for its Mediterranean climate. "But what about the neighbours? Knowing your ability to get drunk they'll be calling the Police."

"I don't think Chief Swan can call himself."

"Chief Swan lives next door?"

"Yes." From loving this house a few moments ago, it was suddenly consumed by the shady world I was dealing with. Bex saw my unease. "What? You don't want to live next door to the Chief of Police?"

"I'm going to have to think about it." I said.

"Well don't think too long. I think for the money, you couldn't buy better and it's been well cared for, Buddy Johnson worked hard on it. It's nice he's going to live closer to his son, he was getting old."

I walked around the house again, standing in each room and getting the feel for it. Upstairs, I looked down from the landing window out onto the yard. The empty flower beds were neat, and the lawn flowed like a lush green carpet to the edge of the forest at the back. There was room to stretch out here, a forest for Lyra to explore and a second bedroom that would make a great study and occasional guest room. All the work had been done and the only thing it required was my choice of paint and a few of my own touches.

But yet there was something - its slightly isolated location perhaps – that made me hesitant. There were five houses on this street and all of them had their backs to the forest. Everyone else lived here just fine; but I wasn't everyone else. Walking to the window of the front bedroom, I looked out into the forest across the street; the three remaining houses were further down the road off to the left. I liked this house, I liked it a lot, but this whole thing with Daniel was stopping me from saying yes. I went down the stairs and Bex darted out of the kitchen.

"Well?"

"I still need to think about it."

"OK, but don't think about it too long."

That evening found me back at the house once again. It had occupied my mind all afternoon and as soon as I'd finished teaching, I'd called the realtor and asked to go back. Bex was right, it was a great house and I loved it. The only reason stopping me from saying yes was this thing with Daniel. But I couldn't live my life in the fear of something nebulous and I'd already decided that I wasn't going to see him again. I'd email him about that when I got home. I wouldn't mention what had happened, but I'd say that I wanted to concentrate on things with Mike. The realtor came back in, looking to see if I'd made a decision.

"I want it." I said. At least on this I could be certain.

So much for emailing him; Daniel was outside my apartment block when I got back. I think he guessed I wasn't happy to see him.

"Is this a bad time?"

"Not really." I snapped. "It's just the end of long and rather difficult day."

"I can come back."

"No, don't." He clearly got what I meant by that.

"Is something the matter? I've been calling you all week. Have I done something to upset you?"

"What gives you that idea?" I snapped.

"You've not taken any of my calls."

I lost it then. "That's because I don't have a cell that I can take your calls on, somebody crushed it and put it beyond use. You know; it's one thing for you to live a secret life, but it's another to drag me into it; meaning that I have my apartment broken into, my cat scared, my computer bugged and for their latest trick; to hold me at knifepoint, pulverise my phone and scare the living daylights out of me. So no Daniel, even if I do get another cell I won't be taking your calls. Leave me alone." I tried to put my key in the lock put he moved my hand away.

"We need to talk about this."

"There's nothing to say!" I tried my key again, and once again Daniel moved it away.

"He attacked you."

"No _they_ didn't, they attacked my phone."

"There was more than one?"

"Yes, two of them. One to talk to me and the other to hold a knife to my throat."

"When was this?"

"It doesn't matter."

"It _does_ matter!" He put his hand on my shoulder and turned me to face him. I couldn't look at his face; I knew that if I did I would be unable to resist him. "I don't want to see you hurt." He said softly.

"Well that's odd, because they said you did."

He scoffed. "I absolutely don't! Can I come in and talk to you about this? What happened to us being friends?"

"I've taken four years of crap from a guy and I'm not…"I didn't get it out. Fool that I was, I stole a look at him and in an instant my defences were useless. I looked away, but it was too late.

"Stephanie, _please_ can we talk about this." He was under my skin, his voice was low, persuasive and I was powerless against it. His hand slid down my arm to the bag of papers that I was carrying. He took it from me. "It's really important that I talk to you about what happened. Then I promise, I'll go and not come back. If that's what you want. Please, I don't want us to part like this." And just like that he was in my apartment. His eyes were like Star Trek phasers set to stun.

I pulled off my coat, turned the oven on and set some fresh coffee going. He followed me into the kitchen. "I'm sorry; I'm not geared up with food for two." I said.

"It's fine, I don't eat 'til later anyway."

"Coffee?"

"Yes please." So when did this happen?" He said gently.

"The night we went to The Shed. They intercepted me after you left." "And you say there were two of them?"

"From what I experienced there were two. One man held a knife to my throat and the one who spoke stood somewhere behind me."

"He didn't identify himself at all?"

"No, he said that you knew what you were dealing with but that you didn't know the extent of it. He said he had his own forces just like you have yours and that I was surrounded. Great." I exhaled.

"I'm sorry."

"And where were my Stormtroopers that night? He said they weren't there."

"It was totally my fault. If I'd have stayed home and not gone in search of you, it wouldn't have happened."

"What do you mean by that?"

Daniel sighed. "They're able to track me."

"Well, they appear to be able to read my mind too."

"That's what we feared."

"Is there anything you can do about it?"

"In certain places, yes, this apartment and your classroom we can cover. Anywhere you're remaining in a fixed place for some time. We can't cover you while you're walking around."

"Why?" He remained silent, his gaze steady on me. I took a guess. "I'd see something that perhaps I didn't want to see?"

"Yes."

"So you're telling me that the best way I can protect myself is to not think about you when I'm out?"

"Yes. You can think about anything else; work, people, things in the news; but it would be better if you kept any thinking about me or this situation to the places where we can shield you."

"Your people can shield my thoughts."

"Yes."

"How?" It was out of my mouth in an instant but I knew I wasn't going to get an answer. He gave an acknowledging smile.

"Sorry, there's so much about this I can't tell you. But one day…"

"Don't give me that 'one day' shit." I snapped, cutting him off. "You will tell me the whole truth the second this is over and I don't care what federal laws you have to break in the process." I glared at him, trying to wrench back some control. "I am placing enormous trust in someone who can tell me diddly squat about themselves. That doesn't sit very easily with me and I hope you appreciate that. Are my thoughts shielded now?"

"No, I need to go set it up."

"Well get on to it." I was in full teacher mode. "I want to feel safe here. Oh and tell them they'll need to switch location in a few weeks, because I just bought a house."

"You bought a house? Where?"

"Next to Chief Swan in Forks. I hope that pays off with some added security."

His brow furrowed. "That's on the market?"

"Yes, just went on today and I was the first one through the door. You know where Chief Swan lives?"

"Everybody knows where Chief Swan lives."

"Great. That doesn't fill me with a great deal of confidence."

"Well, it should. To be honest, you couldn't have picked a safer place."

"I did something right today then." I slumped down on the sofa. Daniel sat down in the armchair opposite.

"Tough day?" He said.

"Yeah."

"Want to talk about it?"

"Don't you have a job to go to?"

"I have time. Tell me about your crap day."

"You don't want to hear it."

"Hey, what are friends for?"

But friends turned out to be for nothing other than sitting in chairs as the next second the phone rang and it was Mom with news; big huge news. Sam had asked her to marry him and of course she wanted to talk about it. Knowing this had the potential to go on forever, I let Daniel out of the apartment and stuck my dinner in the oven, setting the timer. I knew full well she'd still be going strong when it had counted down its thirty minutes.

The next morning as I was setting up my room for the day, Angie Cope bustled into my room carrying a parcel. "This just arrived for you, it's marked urgent." I took it from her and much to her chagrin, didn't open it. "It's urgent." She repeated.

"I know. It's also personal." Angie was like Bex; if you told her anything it would be right around the school in no time. That I'd received a parcel that I'd refused to open in front of her would be making the rounds as soon as she'd left the room.

As I heard her heels retreat into the distance, I took the parcel to my store cupboard and keeping the door ajar, opened it. It turned out to be a new cell phone and a note from Daniel, written on the back of one of his cards.

**It's the least I could do.**

**If you use this SIM card, we'll pick up the tab,  
But I understand if you don't want to.**

**BTW, your class is now shielded.**

**D**

I smiled. A free cell phone? A shielded class? This was getting weird. All of a sudden the store cupboard door was wrenched open and I yelped in fright.

"Miss Chambers, in the storecupboard, with the… cell phone? That's hardly a secret." Mike said, slightly confused.

"Mike, you scared me!" I glared at him. "What do you think you're doing sneaking about like that?"

"I'm not sneaking about. Besides, I'm not the one opening parcels in the store cupboard. A cell phone? What's so secret about a cell phone?"

"Angie wasted no time." I said sardonically.

"I was coming over here for my good morning kiss and she told me she'd just given you a parcel and you'd refused to open it, saying it was personal. Why's a new cell phone personal?"

"It's not, but I don't want what I receive in the post broadcast around the school." I slipped the card from Daniel into the back waistband of my skirt. Mike took the phone from me and placed it on a shelf. He switched the light on and closed the door.

"But as you're already in the cupboard…" He eyed me with mischief, pulled me to him and gave me a very long and slightly desperate kiss. "I'm just not going to be able to stop thinking about you all day." He murmured, running his hands up and down my body. "Dinner, tonight?" He continued. It was Thursday.

"Sorry, no. I'm out."

"Doing what?"

"Yoga."

"Oh." His eyebrows flew up and a wicked smile appeared on his face. "I wonder what yoga moves we could get up to in here?" He moved in to kiss me again when there was a noise in the roof cavity above our heads. Both our faces tilted up to look at the ceiling. "What was that?" He said.

"I don't know; mice?"

"That didn't sound like a mouse."

I became aware of footsteps in the hall outside. "Someone's coming!" I hissed, pushed past him and out into the room, fishing the card from my waistband and pushing it into my bra while I had my back to Mike.

"You're going to have to give me a second!" Mike hissed. I caught the implication of why he couldn't leave. I bit my lip and tried not to laugh.

Into the room came Dan, looking even more pale and empty as he had done yesterday. Ness was with him. He went straight for his seat and put his bag on the chair beside him. Ness went to the desk in front, where she'd sat before Christmas with Jess and I saw her face wrinkle in distaste when she saw Mike leave the cupboard. Dan did not react.

With Mike gone I went to the cupboard and retrieved my new phone.

"Thanks for the warning." I whispered, at whoever it was hiding in the cavity above my room. There was no reply. Oh great, I was talking to myself now.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten: Slash and Burn**

As January turned into February, a sense of ease settled on things. With Silversmith having removed himself from my classes, I could get on with the business of getting my remaining twelfth grade students through to graduation. The tensions between the Quileutes and the other students eased and I relaxed too, knowing that within the four walls of my room I could think what the heck I liked. I spent as much time as I could in there, even eating lunch. Every moment that I wasn't imparting knowledge to the next generation, I was thinking about Daniel. So much for telling him to go, I was beginning to realise that I could be addicted to him.

Even there, Daniel and I had settled into a routine. Every Thursday was Astronomy and every Tuesday and Sunday night he'd stop by my apartment on his way to work. Sometimes he only stayed a few minutes, sometimes an hour or two. The last couple of nights he'd help me to pack my life away in boxes. The paperwork was nearly complete and I had my moving date. He said he'd help me move my stuff and I was grateful of that; the way he made light work of my heavy boxes of books would come in useful.

But I should've known better than to think that everything had sorted itself out. While the shield thing appeared to be working and there were no more notes, all was still not well at school. It was the clack of heels on tiles that alerted me to the problem.

"Oh Stephanie, I'm sorry, but your car tyres have been slashed." Angie appeared red-faced and out of breath at my door. I ran out into the parking lot where a tow truck was arriving. Bill Greene was standing guard over my car with a face like thunder.

"Did you see who it was?" I asked.

"No, as soon as I have your car safely on its way down to Blacks, I'm going to check the security tape. You go with the tow truck; I'll get cover for your classes."

I rode in the cab down to Black's Auto Repair and had a second shock as the truck swung onto the forecourt and I saw the very familiar licence plate of Daniel's Jaguar XF parked over one of the pits. Well, even angels have to get their cars serviced, right? Jacob Black came to meet me. I knew him by sight, you couldn't miss him; he was the tallest man I'd ever seen and next to him, I felt tiny.

"Hi, Jake Black. I won't shake your hand." He held his hands up; they were covered in grease and oil. "I'll get this fixed in no time and check your car over too while you're here. Take a seat." He indicated to some chairs at the side of the workshop. The revving of Daniel's engine turned his head. "That sounds off, what does he do to that thing?" It sounded fine to me. A head popped up from under the hood of the Jaguar.

"What does he do with this, off-road in it?" The loud exclamation shocked me all the more because it was from a woman. Under the baseball cap, tendrils of blonde hair cascaded out. She stalked off across the workshop and from a rack on the wall grabbed some tools. "I fixed this for him three weeks ago and it's as bad as it ever was. I'm going to have to give him driving lessons." I couldn't take my eyes off her; she was absolutely stunning, even in grease-smeared cover-alls. As she walked back, she came over and looked to be getting the measure of me. "So you're the teacher who got her tyres slashed?" I nodded. He face softened. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to put up with things like this. Time was when we respected our teachers. Jake'll have it fixed in no time." Jake was already starting on undoing the wheel nuts on my car. "I won't shake your hand, mine are greasy, but I'm Rose McCarty. I help Jake out when he has high performance cars in. It's my specialism."

"I'm Stephanie Chambers." I replied. "I teach History." It sounded lame compared to being a specialist on high performance cars. She picked up on it. "There's nothing wrong with that, teaching is a valuable profession."

I sighed. "I used to love it, but this year's proving to be a challenge."

"Stick with it." She said. "It's for the greater good. Meanwhile, I need to go sort out the mess this guy's made of his engine."

"Sounds fine to me."

"Trust me; it's not supposed to make that racket."

She went off to busy herself with Daniel's car. I watched as Jake fitted four new tyres to my car and then started under the hood, checking things over. Chief Swan walked in and came over to me.

"Afternoon. Wish I could say this was a social visit, but I'm meeting Bill Greene."

Just then Bill arrived carrying a videotape. "Here it is Chief, like I said. In broad daylight and in full view of all the security cameras, he even looked at them." Bill handed the tape to the Chief.

"Jake?" The Chief called and Jake walked over to us. Rose too stopped work and came over to investigate. "We appear to have some kind of vendetta against Miss Chambers. This tape apparently shows Korvin Silversmith slashing her tyres. Now I haven't seen it yet, but Bill here has seen it and says it's him. Obviously, I'm going to need your assistance with this matter."

"Of course."

"The school will pick up the bill for all this, don't worry about it." Bill reassured me. I'll get Silversmith's parents in as soon as I can.

"They won't come." Said Jake. "You'd better let me deal with it."

"It's a school matter."

"It's a Quileute matter Mr Greene, and as the head of Quileute tribe, I will deal with it." Jake's face was serious.

"He's caused damage to a teacher's car on school property, it is a school matter."

"Well you can press charges through Chief Swan, but the Silversmith's won't come to the school, I can guarantee that."

"Why?"

"This isn't about school; this is about what's happening on the reservation. It's a Quileute matter."

"Then why's he singling Stephanie out? She's the hardest-working teacher I've known in nearly twenty years as Principal, why go for her?"

"I can't give you an answer to that."

"Well find one." Bill stalked off. I heard his car door slam and the engine start.

"Jake, could I use your office?" Jake nodded. "Stephanie?" Chief Swan indicated that I go into the office. He shut the door behind him.

"When are you moving to Forks?"

"Ten days time."

"Can you bring it forward?"

"I don't think so. Do you think this is to do with the other thing?"

"He shrugged. " I don't know; but having you here means that I'm better able to keep an eye on things. You're a teacher; stuff like this doesn't happen to teachers here. I would like you in my jurisdiction as soon as possible. Do you have any colleagues with a guest room?"

Two days later I was in the guest room at the Newton's house, Mike having offered their room instantly. It was absolutely gorgeous and I couldn't have asked for anything more luxurious. I'd put the greatly disgusted Lyra into cat boarding for the week; as Lyra and dogs got on about as well as Lyra and Daniel did.

Mike was almost giddy as the two of us sat down to dinner with his parents. I could see that this was going to be a long week. It was also going to be a very Daniel-free week, as last night's astronomy session had been the last time I'd see him for seven whole days. There would be no opportunity for him to casually drop by on Tuesday or Sunday, but thank goodness for text messages. As I lay in bed that night, having fended off the bedroom advances of Mike and escaped a manicure from his mother; Daniel was keeping me entertained with a constant stream of funny messages that I had to bite my lip not to laugh out loud at. And then he hit me with a zinger.

I wish I could be with you right now.

Me too. Come save me from Karen Newton's manicure tips!

Don't tempt me.

Please come.

Where are you?

Oh my goodness he was going to come here! I texted the address

21480 Forest Road, Forks

Front of the house or back?

Back

There in ten.

I looked at the clock, it was approaching eleven. Thankfully, the Newton's house was quiet. My heart started to pound, I may not want to be lured into Mike's bed, but there was someone who I would very much like to lure into mine. I flitted to the bathroom, cleaned my teeth again, applied a generous squirt of perfume between my breasts and shook my hair until it resembled something sexily tousled. It was February and all my strappy nightgowns were packed away, so I had to the best I could in flannel and jersey. I opened a couple more buttons on my top and then realised that there really wasn't anything down there for him to get excited about. I rummaged in my case, dug out some underwear and put it on, giving thanks for whoever invented plunge bras. I tousled my hair some more and checked myself in the mirror. That was as good as it was getting.

I paced the floor, looking out of the window periodically. The Newton's house bordered the forest, just as my new house in Forks would. As I saw Daniel appear by a tree beyond the fence, I suddenly gained a whole new appreciation for how useful forests could be.

As silently as I could, I opened the window. He hopped the rear fence and jogged across the grass to the drain pipe. He was up that in no time and onto the roof of the first floor which jutted out below the bedroom window. He walked up the tiles and edged along the sill to the open window.

"Stand back." He whispered and pulled himself up and in through the window.

Daniel closed the window and we looked at each other for a moment, both breathing hard. Oh my God, I wanted him so much!

"What now?" He breathed. His eyes were bright with excitement.

I was way beyond being subtle. I stepped forward and ran my hands lightly over his chest, feeling the taut muscles beneath. He felt ripped to perfection. He also felt cold from being out in the night air. I'd soon have him warmed up.

I took a step even closer to him, inhaling his seductive scent and chilling through my thin pyjamas at the cold coming off him. I hoped I was leaving him in no doubt of what I wanted. But there wasn't much of a response from him. May be I needed to be more explicit?

"I want you." I breathed. I was almost on fire for him, burning up inside.

"I want you too." He whispered back.

"You can have me."

"I can't do this." He said through gritted teeth.

"You can, everyone's asleep." I went to kiss him and he pulled away.

"I can't kiss you." He started to wipe his mouth with his hand, standing back from me and swallowing.

"Why not?"

"Because if you do, you'll know too much about me."

"What?" That didn't make sense. He continued to wipe his mouth and swallow, he looked anxious, embarrassed, almost as if he was going to vomit. "Are you OK?"I asked. "The bathroom's there if you want to use it."

"I'm sorry. I can't do this. I want to but I physically can't."

I thought of the very strong perfume I'd squirted on myself before he arrived and realised that he might be one of those people who got nauseous around it. "Is it my perfume?"

He nodded sadly. "Yes."

"I'm sorry." I raged at my stupidity in the silence of my head.

"Don't be, you weren't to know." He hung his head almost in shame. I reached up to place my hand on his cheek but stepped back. He shook his head.

"I can't touch you and I can't kiss you? Are you really that allergic to perfume?"

"I can't explain, I wish I could. There isn't a second goes by where I don't wish that I could explain everything to you."

"Why don't you?"

"Because I can't and even if I did, I would lose you and that's a price I don't want to pay."

"The truth is that bad?" He nodded. I thought for a moment about what this horrific thing might be. From everything he'd told me about himself, what was the worst thing he could tell me? What would it hurt me the most to know that Daniel was? A killer. "Are you an assassin?"

He looked at me and I knew it was the truth. "Yes."

"But you're not one at the moment? You said you work on computers."

"I do work on computers, but that's not all I do." I couldn't respond for a moment. I really was going to have to think very seriously about him. "Am I losing you?" He said softly.

"I need to think about it."

"I understand. I'll arrange for someone else to help you with the house move and you needn't come to the Astronomy sessions. There are only a couple more and with Will and Jane already out perhaps I should finish them early." Jane had gone off to some school on the east coast and Will was tied up with work and couldn't get to the sessions. But I needed help with the house move; that I couldn't easily do without.

"I'll skip astronomy, but come and help me with the move. It'll give me some time to think."

"OK. Thank you."

"For what?"

"For thinking about it. I know that when you make your decision, that it will have been well considered."

Tonight had not gone at all as I'd hoped. I watched him as he climbed out of the window and made his way lightly over the roof tiles, lowered himself down and dropped silently to the ground. So much more made sense now. Why he was so secretive, why he'd had to virtually abandon his daughter and why he was so very fearful of getting involved with me.

Surprisingly, considering his disclosure, I slept well. Maybe that had something to do with a lot more of the picture being in place; such as why he looked like an avenging angel, why he unsettled me and the very good reason why I was being warned off him. Staying away wasn't a bad thing to do under the circumstances.

I thought about it through the week. Being so close, Mike had started to annoy me with his constant insinuation about moving things on in our relationship. It amused me that I'd passed up the bed of a very nice warm-hearted man for the chance of illicit sex with a cold-blooded killer. And what had he meant by saying that if I kissed him I'd know too much about him? That was just baffling. Kissing wasn't that intimate, although maybe for him it was because he had to keep everyone at arms length. Maybe that didn't seem so weird after all. To be able to go off and kill someone probably meant that you needed to keep a lot of yourself closed off to people and possibly found it hard to open up.

I alternated between two viewpoints: I couldn't bear it and didn't want to know and then at other times I couldn't bear to part with him and I started rationalising what he did. Then on Sunday afternoon, Mike and I watched a recent James Bond film, which didn't help matters. James Bond was a Secret Agent and an assassin, so my head decided that Daniel was one too - which made total sense as he was so good looking. The thought of him in a tuxedo almost left me breathless and Mike thought his luck was in. Then I started thinking about all the women Daniel would need to sleep with as part of that job. I guessed that none of them would be so stupid as to wear perfume that repelled him. Daniel as a Secret Agent would not go from my mind and kept on and on until I woke up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night and felt wetness on my cheeks from the tears I'd unknowingly cried. I knew then that I cared for him. I didn't know if I could class it as love, but I cared for Daniel Mitchell and if he got hurt or killed on a job, then I would be very sad.

So the question went from could I be with him, to could I be without him? Could I cope with knowing what he was going off to do if he went on a business trip? Did I have the strength to be the one waiting for the call to say the job was done and he was on the next flight home? Because of the dangerous nature of what he did, time with Daniel could be in short supply. Did I want that? Or should I go for a man with a regular job, who was home at a reasonable time each evening and whose life held no surprises of which to speak?

Dan Taylor walked into one of my lunchtime deliberations. He wasn't in any way back to himself, but you could get a few words out of him now and again. "Do you mind if I come and sit in here?" He said. "I'm having a tough day."

"Not at all."

"I wasn't interrupting anything was I? You look deep in thought."

"I was thinking about something, but you're not interrupting."

Dan sat on a desk in front of me. "Can I help? Sometimes it helps to sort the knots in your head if you talk about it. Ness has been letting me moan on at her and it helps me."

I looked at this young man. Only eighteen years old, but yet there was something about him that made him seem wise beyond his years. I guess that's what happens when something tragic happens to you. It forces you to grow up. I tried to phrase it non-specifically. "Would you rather have a short time of wonderful or a lifetime of nothing special?" I didn't want to admit that this was about a guy.

"If you'd have asked me a year ago I would've said definitely go for the lifetime of nothing special. Solid and dependable has much to recommend it and there's no substitute for knowing what's coming. That was a year ago, before I found the wonderful." He played with the silver plaited ring on his left hand. "I had fifteen minutes of wonderful and I absolutely wouldn't change a thing. I'm suffering because of it now, but I would do every nanosecond of it again. Look, I know this is making a stab in the dark about what it is you're wrestling with, but go with the scary thing. Don't settle for nothing special, give the scary a chance. It may make you so frightened that you… wet yourself – no offence." He smiled with embarrassment. "But when it pays off, you'll look down from the top of the tallest mountain and see the insignificant speck on the ground that was your life before it. That's what going with the scary feels like."

"Thank you."

"Of course, when they leave and take half of you with them, you're left wandering around like a zombie. So there's that to bear in mind."

"So this isn't about Jess for you?"

He shook his head. "I'm only telling you this because it's you and…" He paused for a second, gathering his thoughts. "I know that if I tell you, you won't blab it all round the school."

"No I won't."

"Please don't breathe a word of this to anyone and certainly not my parents, because they don't know. It doesn't concern them anymore anyway."

He tapped the ring on his finger. "I got married. I can't tell you to whom, it's complicated. Besides, she's not here anymore. Something happened over Christmas; she got scared and went back to her old life. She sent over the divorce papers a few weeks ago; which I sort-of signed, sent back and my marriage was ten weeks long from start to finish. But I'm getting her back. To do it I need to go into the proverbial lion's den, so I'm going to need a Daniel. Do you know any Daniels?" I smiled and shook my head. "No? Well, I'll find one. I love her. It doesn't matter where she goes or what she does I'll always love her. She lit up my dreary life like the sun and every second with her was like standing on that mountain. When you've had the wonderful you can't ever go back to nothing special. Regardless of how badly I'm hurting now, I'd still do every bit of it again. Although, if you do meet her in the future, please don't tell her I wet myself, she thinks I was totally cool about her."

I smiled at his turn of phrase; it was good to have him talking again, even if he had just confided something deeply personal. I'd first noticed the ring last November and then remembered his dishevelled and slightly drunken appearance back then. He'd been drunk on wonderful.

"Thanks Dan, I promise I won't say a word."

Before I knew it, it was Saturday and the intercom on the external door of my apartment building went for the last time. It was shortly after six thirty and we had a long day ahead of us. But I couldn't go the day without letting him know my decision.

"You're not losing me." I said.

"Thank you." In his eyes there was almost tangible relief.

"I'm going to struggle with it, but no more than I would, if you were a Marine, a member of the CIA or a Police Officer."

"You do appreciate that I kill on purpose? There's nothing accidental when I do it."

"You're a ruthless, trained killer. Yes, I got that."

"And you still want to be with me?" His brown eyes were steady and serious. "I don't want you to have any romantic ideas that I'm some kind of James Bond." I swallowed and bowed my head as I felt the giveaway heat of blood in my cheeks. He walked over to a window and pulled it up to let some air in. "For one thing, I can't make love to that many women." A bubble of laughter burst through my lips and I looked up to see a grin and a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "But seriously, I want to clear something up from the last time we met. I don't want you to get the impression that I don't find you attractive, I do. There's nobody I want to be with more than you. In your pyjamas and with bed hair, you are hands down the sexist thing on this planet and I wanted you so badly the other night. But I haven't been intimate with a woman for a very long time and a lot of stuff has happened since that's gotten in the way. So please, don't take the fact that I won't kiss or hold you as indifference to you." He came over to me and put his hands on my shoulders. "This may be as much as I can manage or as close as I can get for now." He let out a long sigh.

"My pyjamas are sexy?"

"Yes."

"You mean the maroon ones with the plaid pants?"

"Yeah." That came out slightly in a slightly strangled voice.

"They're ancient." I laughed.

"I really don't care."

I narrowed my eyes and held a finger up, indicating that he should wait there. I darted into my room, threw one of the suitcases on the bed, unzipped it and rummaged around until I found what I thought I looked sexy in. I yanked off my clothes, pulled the black negligee over my head, mussed up my hair and walked back out into the living room.

"So this isn't sexy?"

Daniel literally froze, not a single atom of him moved. Finally his mouth did. "Holy hell."

"So that's a no then?" I walked back into the bedroom, pulled off the negligee, repacked it and got dressed. I walked back out to find Daniel still rooted to the spot. "Come on," I said in my bossiest teacher voice. "We have boxes to move."


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven: Cracks**

I loved my new house. I had virtually nothing in it, but I didn't care; there was lots of space and it was all mine. Daniel had made moving day effortless and amusing too, seeing as my appearance in the negligee appeared to have messed with his brain.

"I'm not going to get anything meaningful done all week." He said, following me upstairs carrying boxes. "That image of you is burned onto my retina."

I smiled. "My maroon pyjamas are not sexy. I needed to give you something else to think about."

"That's _all_ I'm going to think about, for _decades_. I couldn't possibly be a student in one your classes, all I'd do was gaze at you."

I smirked. I did exactly the same to him in our Astronomy sessions. Which were coming to a close and that was sad. Then he gave me a gift which meant that I didn't need to be sad about it any more. When everything was pretty much straight, he brought in one last thing. It was a very large box, beautifully wrapped in silver paper. I carefully peeled it off to reveal my very own telescope!

"It links to your computer so you can line it up on there and then go outside. I wondered if it was something we could continue to do together?"

"Sure! I'd love that." More reasons for him to come over at night? What's not to like?

I didn't feel like making dinner, so I ordered pizza and the pair of us sat on the sofa relaxing and watching TV. I even got my first visitors, Charlie Swan and Heather Scott. Charlie told me that I could stop calling him Chief Swan now we were neighbours. They came over with a card and some wine and I introduced Daniel as my friend. Ness came too and so did a bit of a surprise - she was hand in hand with Jake Black. I expected Daniel to bolt out the door at the first hint of other people, but he didn't and he chatted easily with Jake, Ness and Charlie. Heather came into the kitchen to help me make coffee for everyone.

"He's extremely handsome." She smiled. "But he's just a friend? You're still seeing Mike Newton, yes?"

"Yes."

"Ah. I see in those eyes a woman who'd rather be with Daniel?"

"Is it that obvious?" I whispered.

"No, I just know what I'm looking for."

"Daniel's not in a position to be in a relationship right now. But I hope in time that we could be."

"And in the meantime?"

"I need to end it with Mike."

"I think so too. Emotional honesty is best, I find." Heather moved a little closer and dropped her voice to a whisper. "There's something about him though, do you sense it?"

"Sense what?"

"A feeling of being unsettled around him. Do you know what I mean?"

I sighed. "Yes." I knew why that was, but I couldn't tell her.

"It's odd." She continued. "But I get the same feeling around Charlie's daughter and her husband. It's like I'm scared of them. I've only met them twice, but it's been there both times. Charlie doesn't know what I'm talking about and neither does Ness, she gets on fine with Edward and Bella. Poor kid's had a rough couple of months with her best friend dying. She's spent a lot of time in her room. Charlie wasn't worried about it, he said she'd come around; and he was right, she did. Although the first time she went over to Fredericks to hang out and get coffee, she bumped into Jake and they got chatting - and kissing, _ha ha!_"

"That was a surprise to see them. Isn't he a little old for her?"

"Not really, there's only five years between them. Charlie's thrilled. His reaction? A big old resounding _finally_. I think he and Billy were hoping that Jake and Ness would get it together - keep it in the family so to speak. You haven't met Billy Black, Jake's father have you?"

"No."

"You will living here; the guy practically lives next door. I may be Charlie's girlfriend, but I still get elbowed out of the way for Billy if there's a game on." She laughed. "I don't mind. I get on with Billy's fiancée Maggie really well. She often stops by my place on those nights."

"Do you worry about this feeling you get around Edward and Bella?" I said, trying to explore what she'd said a little more.

She shook her head. "Charlie's got good instincts; he has to in his line of work. He wouldn't be that comfortable around Daniel if he any concerns. He'd be in here, watching him from a distance, not in there boring the pants off the guy about fishing."

I snickered and we took the coffee through.

That night, with my little house fairly straight, Daniel and I said goodnight. He came down the stairs from using the bathroom and placed his hands on my shoulders. Slowly and carefully as if he were testing and checking himself every moment, he bent down and placed the lightest of warm kisses on my cheek.

"Thank you for helping me." I said. "I couldn't have done it without you."

"It's a pleasure. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go find some way of crow-baring that image of you this morning out of my brain."

I smiled and spoke my heart. "Stay." I said softly.

"I can't."

"I'm not expecting anything, but just stay the night."

There was a long silence. "I can't promise to be here in the morning and I have something I need to do first."

"What?"

"Take the truck back."

"Oh." I was expecting something a little less prosaic.

He looked at his watch. "I'll be back around eleven, but I'm giving no guarantees that I'll still be here in the morning."

"I won't hold you to anything."

"Ok, see you later."

So here we were, lying in bed facing one another. Looking, not touching and not speaking. There was enough room for a third person between us, but he was here and that meant the world to me.

He'd come prepared. He must've stopped by his place, because he arrived with pyjamas, as if to underline that this wasn't about lovemaking. I wasn't wearing the black negligee, I was in my usual maroon pyjamas, with the buttons done up to the top and this time no perfume. I didn't want to give him any reason not to be here in the morning. I tried to stifle a yawn but I couldn't. Even though all I wanted to do was look at him, I was rapidly losing the battle with sleep.

"Go to sleep." He smiled gently and it melted my heart.

"Hmm…" I sighed. "Sleep well." I whispered.

"You too."

I closed my eyes, feeling the bed move as he rolled over. I wanted to dream of him, but I was out like a light.

In the morning the sound of heavy rain hammering against the window woke me. Through sleep-filled eyes the time on my bedside clock swam into focus. It was seven and it was Sunday morning. Oh bliss! I didn't need to get up. I closed my eyes again and picked through the memories of yesterday. The negligee incident, moving my stuff here, hanging out with my new neighbours and then the biggie - he'd gotten into bed with me! I rolled onto my back and my heart nearly broke when the mattress beside me was empty. All that remained was a slight dent in the pillows where his head had been. He'd even straightened the quilt. But he'd made no promises and I'd agreed to that. I ran my hand out across the mattress. It was cool; he must've been gone for a while.

I got up and padding downstairs in my moccasin boots I caught sight of myself in the hallway mirror. Maroon pyjamas and I was even rocking the sexy bed-hair thing and he wasn't here to appreciate it. Oh well, his loss, I smiled. I started the coffee going and watched the rain run in rivers down the kitchen window. Today was for chilling out, perhaps a book and film? Oh shit, no. Scrub that, I was having Mike over for lunch.

Circumstances had nicely arranged themselves. Mike was needed in the store and couldn't help me move, but I'd promised he could be my first visitor so I could try out my new kitchen and cook him lunch. I wasn't to know that Charlie, Sue, Ness and Jake would call round, or that I'd persuade Daniel to stay the night. But Mike was having the honour of being my first visitor on Sunday. Or not, as it turned out.

"Morning sleepyhead." I spun round, shocked at his voice, to see a very wet Daniel coming in through the back door. He smiled. "You look startled."

"I thought you'd gone."

"I went for a run."

"In this weather?"

He shrugged. "You can't keep in shape around here if you only run on dry sunny days. Do you mind if I use your shower?"

"Go ahead. I haven't tried it out yet, I don't know how good it is."

"I'll figure it out."

He pulled off his running shoes and walked through the kitchen to the stairs. The close-fitting running pants outlined every muscle in his legs and buttocks. Something stirred inside and I smiled at the intense desire he produced within me.

"Down girl." I purred, grinning like the Cheshire cat as I grabbed a cup and poured some coffee.

I intentionally hung around in my pyjamas a little too long that morning, getting things ready for lunch. As I peeled vegetables, Daniel set up my computer and telescope.

"The bastards!" He suddenly said.

I ran through to the living room. "What?"

"They've put something on here again. How the hell did they get in?" He pulled out his cell phone, selected a contact and walked out of the living room and upstairs as it connected. "Hi, they've gotten to her computer again…" I heard him say. I wandered over and looked at the list of files on the screen. A bunch of them were highlighted, but it didn't mean anything to me.

I glanced at the time, it was coming up to eleven and Mike would be here in an hour. I needed to wash and dress. I checked on the meat in the oven and set the pans on the stove for later. Daniel came downstairs again.

"They must've gotten to it while you were staying at Mike's. Whoever called to fix his Mom's computer on Wednesday did this to yours."

"She never mentioned anything."

"She may not have known if they distracted her, or used the excuse of checking cabling to go into the room you were in. Your shield was over your class at the time protecting you. In the meantime they did this. It isn't one I can get out before Mike arrives. I'm going to have to take your computer with me, strip it out and do a clean installation."

"OK." There was nothing much I could say to that.

He sighed. "It was all going so well." He looked at me and smirked. "Are you going to get dressed today or does he get to see you like this too?"

I laughed. "I don't get your obsession with my pyjamas."

"It's not your pyjamas; it's what you look like in them."

"And what's that?"

"Soft, warm and very inviting."

"So not sexy at all, then?" I grinned.

"On the contrary, _very_ sexy. It's what I like, the laid back casual thing? Not that you don't look good in what you wear to work - and that black thing yesterday? You'll have to save that for when I'm stronger. But for now, what I really like is you just as you are: Intelligent, funny, sassy, incisive, caring and very lovely."

"When you're stronger?" I questioned. "You manhandled a set of drawers upstairs yesterday without my help; how much stronger do you want to be?"

"I wasn't referring to physical strength; I was referring to my emotional strength. I had rough time for a couple of years and I'm still straightening myself out. Not everything works as it should and this is why I struggle to be intimate with you. I can run forever, lift the heaviest weights and swim oceans if you want me too, but holding you in my arms is out of my league. Simply being close to you, even if I can't touch you, means the world to me. Lying in bed last night watching you sleep was a real step forward. I'm a work in progress and I hope you'll stick around to see the finished result."

"You were watching me sleep? You didn't sleep?"

"You were out like a light." He chuckled. It was lovely, lying there listening to you."

"I wasn't talking in my sleep was I, or snoring?"

He shook his head. "No. Well, not talking…"

"Oh no!" I winced.

"You were so tired." He smiled widely, flashing sparkling white teeth that produced that twinge of fear in me again. "Anyhow, you need to go get dressed for your boyfriend."

The light seeped out of my world. "You're my boyfriend."

"No, I'm the weird guy you can't touch who hangs around you. Mike's your boyfriend."

"I'm going to finish it."

"No!" He was suddenly serious. "Don't finish things with him. If this doesn't work out, you'll need him."

"It will work out. Why wouldn't it?"

"You think you know me Stephanie but you don't. There's a lot I can't tell you and if something happens and I have to go away, then I don't want there to be nothing left in your life."

"Will you have to go away?"

"If it became impossible to stay, then yes and it would be nothing to do with you, it would be entirely to do with the circumstances I'm in."

"And you couldn't keep in touch?"

"No. If had to go then it would be final."

"And I couldn't come with you?"

"If it were down to me then I'd take you in a heartbeat. But that too would be final. My life isn't a lifestyle choice; you'd need to leave everything behind. Your family, your friends, every relation you've ever known, this house, Lyra, your job, money, car, books, photographs, _everything_. For you to come with me would mean that to the rest of the world you'd be dead. There's no way back without a lot of explaining and trust me, you wouldn't want to."

I began to be aware of the seriousness of what he was involved in. "Is that what happened to you? Is that why you had to leave your daughter behind?"

"Yes, and there isn't a moment it doesn't hurt. If I have to leave you, it would hurt all over again."

"Don't ever leave me" I whispered.

He put his hands on my shoulders. They felt surprisingly cool through my pyjama top. "I would never leave you intentionally. If I go it's because I have no choice." His voice was laced with emotion and I inhaled his beautiful scent. "Go get dressed before you run out of time."

How I got through the afternoon with Mike I will never know. I marvelled at my acting skills, even managing to convincingly kiss, though every second of it felt like a deep betrayal of Daniel. Still, he was the one who wanted me to have Mike, just in case the worst happened and he had to leave. But I couldn't pretend that this emotional schizophrenia wasn't taking its toll. By the time we reached the end of March, cracks had started to appear around the edges of my life.

I wasn't sleeping great and was increasingly plagued by nightmares. I worried about the shadowy figures stalking my life. I worried about something awful happening to Daniel, or worse, him just vanishing altogether. Even on the rare occasions that Daniel did stay I couldn't settle and often woke drenched in sweat, to find him already sat there with a glass of water and a cool compress.

The cracks were not confined to me. Lyra had not taken to life in Forks at all well. She hated the sight of Daniel and was out the cat flap the moment he arrived. But even on the days he wasn't here she was still neurotic, bad tempered and had taken to urinating everywhere. The vet said it was a clear case of stress and prescribed tranquilisers. Getting her to take them nearly resulted in me needing the damn things.

The broken nights were impacting my job and I spent a frantic afternoon looking for a pile of tenth grade papers, only to find them in the trunk of my car where I'd left them three days earlier. I was up into the small hours grading and at least on that occasion I slept well. I slept so well that I overslept and made my first class with only seconds to spare. But there was worse. While driving to my last Astronomy session I must have fallen asleep at the wheel. The next thing I knew, I was surrounded by bright lights, voices and in unbearable pain.

Of everything now it was the popped ribs that still hurt the most, but my mouth was a close second where it had smacked into the exploding airbag. My teeth had serrated the edge of my tongue and my lips were bruised and swollen. My teeth ached but thankfully I'd been spared reconstructive dentistry. Even though my ribs were taped up they still hurt, but surprisingly the big thing didn't. The broken leg was fine, now that it was pinned, straightened and encased in plaster. Bill Greene had already been over to tell me not to worry about a thing. That was stating the glaringly obvious, there really wasn't much teaching I could do from a hospital bed anyway.

I watched the clock on the wall edge towards three thirty. I heard footsteps out in the hallway and winced as I eased myself over onto my side and sat up sideways. It was the least painful way of getting up. In came Mike, he was here to take me home.

"Mom's made you five meals," He said. "I've put them in the freezer, just take them as you need them. Call me if you need anything. Anything at all."

"Thank you. Please say thanks to her, that's so kind."

"It's the least she can do. How are you going to manage washing?"

"I have that all in place." I said. I didn't, but I wasn't going to admit that. I'd do the best I could for now.

"The Police are coming tomorrow?"

"Yes. Guess I'll know then what I'm likely to face in terms of charges."

"And the car?"

"Beyond repair." I sighed.

"Don't worry about getting to school or anything, I'll drive you."

"Thank you." I stifled a yawn. "But with these pins in my leg I can't go." It wasn't late, but I was tired. I'd not slept particularly well in hospital and was anxious to shut the door on the world and have some privacy.

Mike left. I locked up, switched the lights on and slowly made my way upstairs. I collapsed into bed and did what I'd wanted to do for four days, now that my phone was finally re-charged. I checked the messages, but there wasn't anything from Daniel. Not even a 'where are you?'

Oh no, was this it? Had he had to leave and I would never see or hear from him again? My heart was in my mouth as I sent a brief but light message. I made no mention of the accident. I waited five minutes, ten, half an hour; but nothing came back. I was suddenly very cold and trying to be very, very brave; as if it was wrong to cry in the face of knowing full well what could've happened. I fought back tears.

"Oh!" I exclaimed as my head suddenly thought of another reason why he wouldn't have been in touch. He'd accepted another assassination job and was off despatching a life. He was hardly likely to call me in the middle of that. OK, well that was a little easier to cope with as a reason for his silence. Not great, but better than running with the _gone forever_ scenario. I'd cling to that for now. I settled down and my head played out unhelpful James Bond scenarios with Daniel in the lead. Daniel in a tuxedo was not an image a woman could easily get to sleep with.


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve: Puzzle**

"From the witness statements, we're satisfied that you weren't to blame for the accident, but the victim of someone else driving without due care and attention. We have a licence plate and are in the process of contacting the driver. There is a case for them to answer."

"Thank you." I replied with relief, grateful to the Port Angeles Police Officer that I wouldn't be facing charges.

"This person was all over the road from Port Angeles and had come close to taking someone else out a few minutes earlier. We're lucky that the person following was sufficiently alarmed to have noted the licence plate well before the accident. The perpetrator didn't stick around to see what they'd done."

With the worry that I wouldn't be the one facing the charges gone, I relaxed and fell asleep on the sofa that afternoon. I woke later with my leg aching and a nagging sense that things were not right. I felt prickly, unsettled and had a headache that didn't lift regardless of dosing myself twice with pain relief. It was as if the atmosphere was pressing down on me. I checked my phone constantly, but there was never anything from Daniel. Plenty of messages from other people wishing me a speedy recovery, but not the message I really wanted. In a move that would no doubt set back my recovery by weeks, Mom called; desperate to come up and care for me. I managed to talk her out of it, mainly by turning the conversation to Sam. All I did was say his name and off she went. I flicked idly through a magazine as she rattled on about how incredible he was, thankfully zoning back in for the details about her wedding in August. I still wasn't sure about all this.

"Mom, you've known him what, like, seven months? Isn't it a bit soon to be thinking of marrying the guy?"

"Possibly, but at my age you have to grab the chance while you can."

"You're hardly at death's door. I think you should wait a while."

"Isn't this a conversation I should be having with you?"

"I'm not the one getting married."

"How are things with you and Mike? Is he taking care of your _every _need?" There was no escaping the insinuation there.

"He does have a job Mom."

"I'm wondering if we shouldn't fix a double wedding?"

I scoffed. "Er.. No."

"So he's not 'the one'?"

"No he's not the one."

"What makes you so sure?"

I didn't have an answer to that. Well I did, but I wasn't admitting to it. Mike was not 'the one' as long as there was a chance that Daniel was still in this world. A sudden pang of pain gripped my heart. Where was he?

"Mom, it's early days with Mike and I'm not looking for anything serious right now. I still have Scott to get out of my system."

"I'm so glad he didn't turn out to be the one. Although, I could've saved you a lot of time and trouble there."

"So you told me in Laguna Beach, repeatedly."

She laughed. "Glad to see you finally took my advice. Now; venues. I'm thinking the Pines Hotel, what do you think?" And with that she was off again. I smiled. I was glad she was happy, but regardless of that, seven months, in my opinion, was far too soon.

The days passed with glacial slowness. During the evening Mike came and ate with me, his Mom helpfully having made two portions of everything. Mike was everything a woman needed when she was recovering from a broken leg; practical, considerate and generous with his time. During the day, Heather had taken it upon herself to help me to get washed, after she guessed that I hadn't asked anybody to help. During the afternoon Ness came over bringing news from school. Mike worked there but he didn't have a clue what went on, guys didn't. Ness did and she kept me up to date with who was dating whom and what Dan had been doing this week to sail even closer to exclusion. I could see how much it hurt her to watch her friend descend into a spiral of drink, the suspicion of drugs and behaviour that wasn't the Dan Taylor either of us knew. He'd retreated from Ness and everyone else for that matter.

"He does the absolute minimum to keep in school." She said sadly, nursing a big cup of coffee.

"And he doesn't talk to you anymore?"

She shook her head. "He finds it hard to be around me. I remind him too much of things that hurt."

"Twins are connected in ways we can only guess at."

"Hmm…" She said. She didn't look convinced and I took a guess at the real reason he was hurting.

"And there was this girl?" Ness's eyes flew up and fixed me with a stare that almost dazzled me.

"How did you know about that?" She breathed.

"He told me."

"He _told_ you? All of it?"

"That he was married, or had been married, yes."

"Did he tell you to whom?" Ness's eyes were still wide.

"No. From your expression I'm guessing that it's a really big secret."

"Yes and you mustn't tell anybody."

"I won't. All I want to do is be able to understand so I can help him. So it's this girl that's making him sad?"

"Yes. The Jess thing and her, it all collided in one big mess. Jess's death he can cope with. Dead is dead, they're not coming back. The other thing he can't and he won't let any of us near him to help. She won't let any of us talk to her about it either."

"You know her?" Ness nodded. "Is she from Forks?"

"No, she's from out of town. She's overseas now, in Europe. He can't understand why she left and to be honest, neither can I. What happened could've been sorted in time or would have gotten easier. But for some reason, she got scared and left and he just feels abandoned." I had an indication of how Dan felt. "But please don't say anything at all and certainly not to his parents."

"I give you my word, I won't."

"I'm stunned that he told you. I'm even more stunned that I didn't know he'd told you. That worries me. I need to know if he's casually dropped it into conversations with other people, too."

I smiled "You sound like he's given away state secrets."

Her eyes were fierce. "When it comes to her, he has. Did he tell you her name?"

"No."

"Good. If someone comes asking, the less you know the better."

Oh, not more secrets. This conversation hadn't taken the turn I was expecting. "Has he gotten mixed up in something dangerous?"

Ness shook her head. "I can't talk about it, I've only said this much because it's you…"

"That's exactly what Dan said." I interjected. "'Only because it's you'. What does that mean? Why am I so special?"

Ness wrinkled her nose. "Shit." She said under her breath.

Just then my phone rang, I looked at it, it was Daniel calling.

"I need to take this!" I panicked. "I need some…um…"

"Privacy? I'll go." She turned on her heels and walked out, as I pressed the green button on my phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi." Said a voice that was like water in the desert. "Sorry, stuff happened. And, from what I hear, it did to you too. Can I come over?"

Fifteen minutes later he was in my house. His car was parked a short distance away and he'd picked his way through the forest 'til he'd found the back of my house. He hopped the fence and came in through the back door.

"It's safer if my car isn't here." He said. "I'm sorry, I had to go to ground, things flared up. We're drafting in specialist help"

"From Langley?" I thought of the CIA headquarters.

"From Italy; he's a specialist tracker. Anyway, how are you? Your face looks so bruised."

"It looks worse than it is and it's much better now. My ribs are the worst. Broken ribs and a cough are not a good combination."

"I can imagine. And your leg?"

"Healing nicely, although it'll be another month before I get the cast off. So, where've you been?"

I saw that I wasn't going to get an answer to that and he slowly shook his head. "Sorry, yet more stuff I can't tell you." This was getting annoying. His face looked even sadder as he continued. "Look, they're not going to find that vehicle or the driver involved in your accident. It was part of whatever this thing is with us."

"How do you know?"

"We can run licence plate searches too. It's a dead end."

"Are you saying that I was deliberately run off the road? Isn't there something your people can do to keep me safe?" I was horrified.

"We're doing what we can, but I can't give you a bodyguard, that would be too noticeable. This house and your class are protected, more than that we can't do without arousing suspicion."

"My house is protected?" I started looking around. "I know it's shielded, but there's more?"

"It's under surveillance now and it's worrying that you're very much a creature of habit. You need to vary your routine more. So does Mike. Every day at four thirty he arrives and on the dot of nine thirty he leaves. Tell him to mix it up a little."

"He's going to ask why."

"Make something up."

"I'm not in the habit of lying." Or I hadn't been until Daniel came into my life, now I found myself doing a surprising amount of it. That and just not telling people the whole story. But Daniel's people knew my movements. "Are we being watched now?"

"Not right now, because I'm here. But we are shielded."

"So this shield, would it be causing me headaches?"

Daniel looked perplexed. "I don't know. I'll have to ask. It's not a side effect we know about."

I sighed and in it there was a mixture of relief, that Daniel wasn't dead or gone, but also of foreboding. I was putting myself through a lot for not a great amount of return. I hoped he turned out to be worth it. I wouldn't be the first woman to fall under the spell of a guy who you thought was the cat's pyjamas; but in time turned out to be something the cat dragged in. But there's always something about one man, that's like a fish hook getting under your skin. You can wriggle free all you want; but with every movement the fish hook works its way deeper in. I'd never been like this about a guy, not even with Scott. I'd had plenty of boyfriends in High School and in those first couple of years in College, before Scott came along. But I'd never been as totally absorbed by a man as I was by Daniel. Absorbed was a polite way of saying completely obsessed. I may be a professional woman on the outside, but there was hideous amount of teen-like stuff going on in my head right now. This thing, of him being unable to be intimate with me? In my head I'd fixed that already, with nothing more than a practical dose of TLC. Of course it had taken time – an evening – but by the end of it he was miraculously cured and… ahem… expressing his gratitude. I'll interject the naughty smile there. I was so glad nobody could see my thoughts under this shield.

"What's so funny?" He smiled.

Shit. "Oh um… Nothing."

"That's quite a face for nothing, you're going pink." Daniel crossed to the other side of the room and picked up a magazine,; one that Mike had bought me and which indicated his complete lack of knowledge of what I would be interested in. "Cosmo?"

I rolled my eyes. "Mike."

"Are you having trouble keeping him satisfied in bed?" Daniel smirked.

"I'm having trouble being with him at all." I replied, all trace of my slightly aroused state now having vanished.

"Stay with him."

"I don't want to be with him. If you want me so much, why are you insisting that I stay with him? What's wrong with me being single? Do you have another woman somewhere, just in case it doesn't work out with me?"

Daniel dropped the magazine back on to the pile. "I'm just thinking of you."

"What? You're intentionally making me live with emotional schizophrenia? Why?"

"I told you." He said quietly. "If I go you'll need somebody."

I scoffed. "What? You think I'm going to fall apart if you go? Er…Hello? Gloria Gaynor sings the anthem to that crock of shit." I took a breath and calmed myself. I wasn't doing myself any favours by getting agitated. I looked at him, taking in his perfect face and what I'm sure was a perfect body underneath his clothes. I fixed him with a steady gaze. "Do you really want me?"

"Yes."

"How do you feel about me spending time with Mike?"

"Not happy, in more ways than one."

"Name them."

He walked to the window and looked out. "He can conduct his life in public with you. He gets to see you whenever he wants. He can hold you in his arms, take you to his bed and as much as I want to do those things, there are times, like now, when I struggle to be in the same room as you."

"We've shared a bed."

"And I hold my breath almost the whole time."

I shook my head, unable to believe what emotional damage had been wrought on him. "Are you really that emotionally screwed from what happened to you?"

He sighed. "It's a lot of things. Like I said, I'm a work in progress. I only hope that you won't decide I'm too much to take on." He scraped his hand through his hair and turned back to face me. "There have to be fundamentals in any relationship but I can only tell you a little, a lot of this is going to be down to you. I can only come so far and it will ultimately be your choice whether you discover the rest and step over the line into my world. The thing is, so much has to remain unsaid until you make that decision. So, knowing the little that you do, the key is do you trust me?" He was the one with the rock steady eyes now. Eyes that sent mixed messages; saying 'run to me' and 'run away' at the same time. That was it. Did I want him enough and was I brave enough to cross this line that he'd mentioned?

"Will crossing the line be dangerous?"

"It will be a different kind of danger, but you will be _much_ better protected."

"So, if I decide to cross the line, you can tell me everything about yourself?"

"Yes. There will be no secrets then. But you're a long way from it and you can't decide here and now, you don't know enough about me to make a decision."

"So tell me, what do I need to know?"

He smiled and shook his head. "I can't tell you. You have to discover it for yourself."

"You're not making this easy."

"It's a simple case of join the dots. Everything you need to know to make your decision is out there. But you're the one that has to piece it together and decide - when you see the picture - whether it's something you want to take further."

"You're a puzzle to solve?"

"If you want to look at it like that, yes."

"And the bad guys are out to keep me from putting the pieces together?"

He looked at his watch and flashed me a smile to die for. "Who says they're the bad guys? Sorry, but I have to go."

"Oh nice!" I grumbled. "Leave me with that thought, why don't you?"

He stood in the living room doorway and turned back to me. "You're intelligent, you can and will piece together the information, it's in your nature. But I don't know what you're going to do with it. Once you discover the picture, you'll realise that to cross the line means so much more than deciding if you will accept me for what I am. But it's entirely your call. As much as I hope that you will, I have to respect that it could be entirely likely that you'll say no." And off he went. He was right; it was in my nature to piece together the information. How convenient that I had enforced time off work and what better way to spend it, by piecing together the puzzle of Daniel Mitchell.


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen: Midnight**

I wracked my brain for what I knew about Daniel. I grabbed paper and pencil and at the top of the sheet I wrote one word:

Assassin.

That was loaded enough without anything else being added to it. What else did I know about him? He had a daughter and an ex-wife. That was neither here nor there in the grand scheme of things, but having a daughter he couldn't see upset him a great deal. He'd not said much about his ex-wife, other than she wasn't chasing him around the country. I guessed she was another thing that had been left behind because of what he did. That fitted in with being an assassin. You couldn't lead a normal life if you were being sent to despatch others. People could come looking for you in retribution and if you were easy to trace you wouldn't be a discreet killer. But if he couldn't be in his daughter's life, then what chance did I have of successfully being any part of his? However, he was giving me the option of finding out and making the choice. He'd also warned me that being part of his world would mean that I would have to leave everything behind.

Everything.

That was another loaded word. We were only two words in and already I was aware that this wasn't a decision I would be making lightly.

Then, there were the more mundane things. He ran to keep in shape, he drank espresso, he drove a Jaguar and he worked on computer systems. He liked astronomy; he'd started a degree in astronomy but had dropped out when things changed. He hadn't said what those things were though. The running, coffee and the car were insignificant. The astronomy and the computers though, they could be. After all, there wouldn't be too many places that ran degree programs in astronomy, perhaps there was a potential trail there?

What about the fear of him that I used to have? Now and again I got a flash of it, particularly when he smiled. Was that significant? I dismissed it; that was just me not knowing him at first and getting a little scared of what he could do to my insides with nothing more than a devastating smile. Even his cologne had the capacity to mess with my head. It was potent, a walking narcotic to which I was helplessly addicted, I saw that now. Before my accident I'd trawled the perfume counters in Port Angeles trying to identify what it was. I'd decided it must be Calvin Klein's Eternity for Men. I kept a bottle of it in my bedside drawer to spray on the bed. Ironically, I'd discovered it helped me to sleep. So much for that year off guys, here I was sat on the sofa trying to work one out!

My head dragged up the fairy story of Rumplestiltskin and I mused whether, having worked him out, he would vanish in a puff of smoke or fall through the floorboards with anger at me having discovered his big secret. Was Daniel Mitchell even his real name? Had he given me any reason to doubt that it was? No, but in his line of work aliases were probably something he used all the time.

These people who were trying to warn me off him, who were they? He'd told me that he didn't want to hurt me, so why had they said he did? And what about that comment that Daniel said made other day?

"Who says they're the bad guys?"

OK, so maybe there was more that made him dangerous than just being an assassin. Something happened to him a while back, something that had messed with him emotionally and had made it hard for him to be close to me. Torture? Had Daniel been captured during one of his assignments and tortured? That would certainly make for a messed-up individual. Were they trying to warn me off because they knew he was emotionally unstable and there was the potential he could hurt me through that? Of course, all he needed was the love of a good woman - step up Stephanie Chambers!

I wasn't stupid; I knew it would take more than love to put a victim of torture back together again. He'd told me right from the start that it was good sense to stay away from him; perhaps he was sparing me from the hornet's nest of emotional baggage he was dealing with? Would I want to be with someone who was unable to give much out? There was always the hope that he could in time return my love and that was the clincher: He had me. As long as I believed there was that hope, I would stay.

But this wasn't just about emotional scars. There were the stark warnings from whoever the shadowy characters were in the stairwell. They'd said that Daniel wanted to kill me and that death was what happened to people who got tangled up with people like Daniel. Although he'd alluded to other members of his family, he'd never specifically mentioned anyone else other than a 'brother', who he'd said wasn't really his brother. Was his 'brother' a fellow assassin? Were they members of a group, bound together as a 'family', not by blood ties but by shared experience? That was entirely possible. Maybe this was some rehabilitation program that he was in? A place where wounded assassins went to get better? Again, that could fit.

Back to the stairwell. The man had told me to stay in the sunlight, that I was safest there and quoted the Bible at me, which I'd never bothered to follow up, not being inclined to read things I didn't really believe in. But perhaps I could ask Heather about that? She was a Pastor she'd know why it was significant. And sunlight, why sunlight? I'd seen Daniel in sunlight; he'd been at my house several times during the day. He wasn't restricted to the hours of darkness. Although perhaps it was metaphorical and referred to the dark world that Daniel lived in? A world where you couldn't live openly in the sunlight like everyone else. Daniel had been envious of Mike for that reason.

And what about the trap that Daniel and his forces were supposedly guiding me into? What if in finding out what I needed to know brought me in possession of knowledge I really shouldn't have? What if this knowledge put me in so much danger that I really had no option but to cross the line for my own protection? Was that what they meant? That finding out would put me at the centre of the spider's web and any thrashing to break free would only bring the hungry spider to me faster? That was plausible and would be one good reason to stop now and cut the threads while I was still on the outskirts. But the spider could find me wherever I was on its web and perhaps it was already too late? That fish hook was in and perhaps that spider's venom was already working through my system. A cold shiver went down my spine. This was far bigger than I'd anticipated. In only a few minutes my head had hit upon a few big ticket items as far as Daniel was concerned.

But before I'd had chance to figure anymore out or even talk to Daniel about my suspicions, Bex was at my house and organising my birthday. She was bringing 'the girls' to me.

"A girl's night in. I've sorted it with Mike. He's going to take you out the night before and then the night of your birthday, we'll come over, watch some movies, drink some wine and have some fun."

There was no saying 'no' to Bex once things had been 'organised'. It was a miracle with her that anything had; which was probably why she took such umbrage if you messed with her plans. I felt duty bound to go through with it, but a night with a group of drunk teachers, wasn't top of the list of fun ways to spend my birthday.

My concerns about Daniel had interrupted another night's sleep, so I was awake when my phone's red light indicated that I'd received a text message at the crack of dawn on my birthday.

A little bird tells me it's your birthday!

I smiled and replied to Daniel.

Yes, 27 today.

Back the reply came.

Happy Birthday! I'm 32 tomorrow.

We had birthdays next to each other? Another message came.

Meet you at midnight?

I laughed; I couldn't meet him anywhere at midnight, but plans hatched in my evil brain.

I'll be here at midnight, you can come over. Don't know what state I'll be in though. Bex has arranged a party.

He'd be arriving later and the promise of him had turned my dread of the drunk teachers into something bearable. In truth, it had been a fabulous night and we'd spent most of it screaming with laughter, when Bex hooked a karaoke unit up to the TV and we'd all been rock goddesses for the evening. They'd left around eleven thirty and everything was looking good for his arrival. Well, apart from one thing. Me. I'd had one too many. OK, perhaps six too many and I was very, very drunk. I was also desperate to unwrap the gift I really wanted for my birthday… Daniel. He may be trying to ensnare me into his own trap, but I too was capable of weaving my own web around a hapless male. I wasn't clueless in the art of seduction and tonight, Daniel Mitchell would be getting trapped right back. OK, so getting awesomely drunk had left me slightly compromised and the plaster cast sticking out from under the black negligee wasn't my best look; but I was giving this my best shot and this time I'd left off the perfume.

I was still upstairs getting ready when there was a tap on the bedroom window. I stumbled over and yanked up the blind. He was there!

"What're you doing there?" I slurred.

"Saving you the trouble of going downstairs." He grinned and motioned for me to slide the window up, which I did. He flicked himself in and I stuck my head out, looking up and down.

"Were you hanging off the roof?"

"Yes, why?"

I shut the window, exerting a little too much force on the well-oiled runners and sending it crashing back down. "Oops." I giggled. I turned back to face him. "Normal people don't hang off roofs."

"I'm not normal people."

"True. Did they teach you that at assassin school?" Assassin came out with a few too many s's.

Daniel's face darkened. "It's not a joking matter."

Uh oh… I was not off to a good start. "Sorry. So Happy Birthday!" I trilled, overly brightly; my brain was a champagne-fuelled mush.

The dark countenance lifted and changed to the devastating smile. "And to you. I see you've already been celebrating?"

"Yes, but I saved a bottle for us." I made a grab for his hand to pull him out of my room. But he pulled it away so quickly that it was a blur.

"I don't drink." He fixed me with a look that was like being dazzled by headlights. "Stephanie…" By his sad, soft voice I knew what was coming. "Champagne? You dressed like this? You know I can't give you what you want."

I dropped my eyes and metaphorically waved a white flag. "You can't blame a girl for trying." I sighed and swayed. "Most men would've gone for it."

"I'm not most men." He whispered. "I can't respond to this, this is… too much. If I did…"

There it was I knew the answer to this. "You might hurt me?"

He nodded. "Strong emotions produce reactions in me that I can't always control. Start small and build up, don't go in full throttle. You look amazing, but this is wasted on me right now. Get changed, I'll go make you some decaf."

He went downstairs and inside a petulant part of me threw her teddy out of the crib at not getting what she wanted. Damn! I was desperate for him. But I took his point, start small and build up. I pulled off the black negligee and exchanged it for regular pyjamas, now cut off at the knee because the lower leg wouldn't go over my cast.

I wrapped my bathrobe around myself and made my way carefully down the stairs one at a time, walking into the living room and sitting down on the sofa. I'd not had the opportunity to get him a card or a gift, even though I'd have liked to. His birthday was April 6th I'd remember that from now on.

Not only did he bring me coffee, he brought me toast too.

"You're not having some?"

He shook his head. "I'm not hungry."

"I don't need to be hungry to eat toast." I said; toast was perfect whatever time of day or night it was. I bit into the warm bread. There was a lot to be said for the simple pleasures of coffee and toast. "Thirty two huh?" I said, looking over at him and forgetting not to speak with my mouth full. "You're getting on a little." I smiled and he did too.

"Twenty seven? You're equally getting on. Don't parents start expecting that you'll settle down at this age?"

"Oh yes." I sighed. "She's marrying me off to everyone. What about your parents?" Then I remembered. "Oh, sorry, you can't be in contact with them."

"I already did the marriage thing, remember? They wouldn't have pressed again."

"Can I ask what happened there?" If there was any future in us as a couple, I needed to know what went wrong first time around.

"It was stupid, I should never have said yes to her." He sighed. "I was very young. The responsibility of being a father weighed heavily on me and it was something she wanted to do, just to be able to get rid of her name without too many questions." He looked at me; perhaps I'd furrowed my brow a little because he continued. "I'd better tell you the whole story. At least it's part of my life that I can talk about."

"I won't tell anyone."

"I know you won't. I want to say thanks for staying quiet about me. I expected you to crack tonight, but you didn't."

"What? Have you been listening to me?"

"I haven't, but the person who shields you can hear every word you say. How are the headaches by the way?"

"Better. They can hear me all the time?" That made me worried.

"Don't be alarmed, anything you say stays strictly between the three of us. It doesn't go anywhere else."

"There are two people looking after me?"

"Yes."

"One here and one at school?"

"No, they work as a team. I really hope you can meet them one day."

"But that wouldn't be until I decide which side of the line I want to be on?"

"Correct."

"So what was with the shield?"

"We discovered that something affects it, so we're keeping it lighter."

"What does?"

He shook his head and smiled. "I can't tell you that."

"So tell me something you can. Actually, just start from the beginning and tell me everything." He grinned, there was no chance of that, I knew. "So your birthday is April 6th and you're 32 years old. I stated. Where were you born?"

"Just south of San Francisco."

"Did you grow up there?"

"Yes." His smile became very knowing. "Don't try and search for me on the Internet, you won't find me. I've been very thorough in removing all traces."

"You've done that?"

"It's part of this new life."

"Sounds like a plotline from _Men in Black_."

He laughed. "That's not an unreasonable comparison."

"What? Aliens really are living among us? Are you an… Oh! You don't kill space aliens do you?"

His face creased into laughter. "Life would be a whole lot more exciting if I did. No, I don't kill space aliens." That amused him greatly.

"Sorry, you were about to tell me your life story and I hijacked it with ET."

He leant back in the chair, spreading his long legs out in front of him. "There really isn't much to tell. I was born, went to school, graduated and went to San Francisco State to study Astronomy, but had to work my way through. That's where I met Helen."

"Your ex-wife?"

He nodded. "I got a job with an IT company in San Francisco. Christmas party, young guy gets swept off his feet by the stunning CEO and before I knew what was happening, she announces that I was going to be a father. Our daughter was born September thirtieth." Daniel seemed to drift off.

"Go on." I encouraged. Delighted and fascinated that he was at last opening up.

"I took my responsibilities very seriously. Helen, however, saw me as simply a way of getting rid of a despised name and having a baby. She wasn't really interested in me. She had her money, her company and she now had her baby. I was just the sperm donor. But my little girl meant everything, so I went along with what Helen wanted: Marriage and looking after…" He had to bite back her name. He looked at me seriously. "It's hard not mentioning her, so if I tell you her name, it's to be guarded with your life." He said it in such a way that meant I could never say no. Not that would ever tell a soul, I cared for him too much.

"I won't ever say." I breathed, feeling like I was about to be given a glimpse of a priceless jewel.

"Thanks. It's Madison."

"That's a lovely name."

"I didn't choose it, it was all Helen. Everything was always all Helen. We got married; I dropped out of college and became a Stay at Home Dad, while Helen worked full-time. I tried my best with Helen, but it didn't work, she didn't invest the same amount of time in me as she did in her company. One day she told me to go. I became an inconvenience when she did really fall in love. When you're very rich and have great lawyers you can do anything you want, I learned that pretty quickly during the divorce. Madison got a full-time Nanny and I got relegated to weekend parent. I moved out, got a job with a rival computer firm and tried to see Madison whenever I could. That was how things were for three years, up until the night of Madison's sixth birthday. Helen wouldn't let me see her that day; she'd arranged some party that I wasn't welcome at. I'd gone to see a band at the Filmore that night and on the way home, everything changed and that's as much as I can tell you. My life after that is the other side of the line."

We sat there in silence for a moment. I hadn't expected to have been given so much. "Thank you for telling me that. I promise I won't tell anyone." I wouldn't. I really had gotten a glimpse of the jewel.

"I hope it helps you to make up your mind in the end. What you find out from now on won't be remotely comforting. You'll find Helen by the way; I can't remove her from the Internet. Helen Mitchell, CEO of Elba Solutions, I'll save you the hassle of working it out. Don't go looking for Madison though. Helen and I did agree on one thing, that there was to be no mention of Madison until she was old enough to choose for herself whether she wanted to be traceable via the internet." He looked at his watch. "I should go."

"Working?"

"No, it's coming up to one o'clock and you need to sleep."

"Stay with me?"

"Not tonight."

"Please? It's my birthday."

"It's mine too, but I'm sorry, not tonight."

"Why?"

"Things are too close to the surface." The pain on his face was almost tangible and then it suddenly gave way to a mischievous smile. "And you time to read up on Helen, as I know you're itching to do."

He was right and as he disappeared into the night, my laptop was on and I was reading up about the CEO of Elba Solutions. She was forty nine and her biography reeked of achievement. She'd never put a foot wrong in business; seeing a gap in the market and steering Elba to great success over fifteen years. Where Madison was everything to Daniel, to Helen she seemed unimportant, her motherhood only mentioned in the last line of her biography. I wasn't very disposed to her for the way she'd treated Daniel; but it would be wrong to speculate about her relationship with Madison. I'm sure Ms Mitchell loved her daughter very much. She unsettled me, and the reason why was in the photographs of her. I saw the same thing time and again; smart suits and brown hair arranged in a simple twist. I looked a great deal like her in my work suits and I hoped very much that that was where our similarities ended. Before I went back to work I'd freshen up my wardrobe and get a few more casual things. Still smart, but looking a lot less like the Ice Queen and more like someone who might go out for ice cream.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen: Breathing Space**

"You're coming to the wedding, no arguments."

"Thank you, that's so generous of you."

"What are friends for?" Billy smiled at me warmly.

I barely knew the guy and already I was going to his wedding. Were the people in Forks for real?

I'd been invited over for dinner at Charlie's house, having been forcibly removed from my own by Ness, when she'd discovered that I'd spent the day eating toast. After last night's talk with Daniel, the resulting lying awake thinking about him and the hangover from last night's drinking; I didn't have the energy to fix a proper meal. So here I was; with Billy, Charlie, Heather, Ness and Jake. On the basis of less than two hour's acquaintance, Jake's Dad had invited me to his and Maggie's wedding at the end of next month.

"Ness and I are going shopping for dresses next weekend, do you want to come?" Asked Heather.

"That would be great!" I exclaimed. It had been a long few weeks and I was starting to get cabin fever.

The relaxed atmosphere around the table was suddenly shattered by the sound of breaking glass and the screech of tyres as they pulled away. Charlie, Ness and Jake were up and out like greased lighting and I had a horrible feeling that I knew where the broken glass would be.

"It's your kitchen window." Charlie came back and confirmed my fears. He came with me as we went into my house and discovered a rock on the floor of my kitchen. There was a note wrapped around it. Of course there would be a note wrapped around it. Charlie picked it up, pulled off the string and opened up the paper. He showed it to me.

**This is where you start running.**

There was a knock on the door.

"Can we come in?" It was Ness and Jake.

"One moment!" I called; motioning to Charlie to hide the paper. They came in to the kitchen. Charlie was stood there with the rock in his hand.

"They threw a rock through your window?" Ness was appalled. "What the hell's going on?"

"I really don't know." I replied.

"Jake, I thought you'd sorted things out on the Reservation?" Ness added sternly.

"I thought I had. Obviously not."

I didn't want to contradict them, but this wasn't anything to do with Korvin Silversmith, but those who were out to stop Daniel and I getting together. Where was my shield? Where was my protection? I needed to call Daniel as a matter of urgency. I was beginning to lose patience with this.

I called later, but I couldn't raise him. I tried several times and each time his phone diverted straight to his answering service. There was no message, just a tone. I eventually gave up and left a brief, terse message asking him to call me. I looked at the boarded-up window that Jake and Charlie had fixed, the glazier was booked for tomorrow. In the meantime, the episode brought me yet more uncertainty about Daniel.

"This is where you start running." I said out loud, to no one in particular. "Running where, and how?" I continued, looking down at the cast on my leg. It was itchy, a good sign, but driving me to distraction. Just a couple more weeks and I could get the wretched thing off. I was anxious to get back to my students, yearning for a bit of normality if truth be told. I was changing and the person I'd been at the start of the school year was being ever so subtly altered. My life in September was very black and white, clear and ordered. Now I had a brain like marshmallow and I was beginning to resemble one of those women who allowed men to mess up their lives and did nothing about it, bleating that they 'loved him'. Holding on to Scott for so long was sheer laziness on my part, but this was in a different league. Where was my sense of reason? Where was my gut reaction to flee from this guy who'd come into my life with his spectrum of grey? And why was I putting up with this crap?

Away from Daniel I could think clearly. When he wasn't around I saw things as they truly were – shadowy, increasingly dangerous and not at all what I wanted my life to be. When he was around, his intoxicating beauty messed with my head and I couldn't think straight. But here was the great irony: Despite him being the source of the danger, when he was around it didn't seem so great. I felt protected, safe at the eye of a storm, even though he'd never protected me in the way I'd hoped he might – by folding me into his arms and holding me close. He was incapable of doing that, he said. He was also incapable of returning a call and as the night slowly wound its way to midnight, I gave up waiting for him and took myself off to bed.

Another Monday came around and the day didn't start well when I badly overslept and ended up being woken by the guys who'd come to replace the broken glass. The rude awakening left me snappy and on the back foot for the rest of the day. There was still no reply from Daniel and my head alternated, between wondering sadly if he'd gone for good and being livid with him for leaving me unprotected - yet again. I thought about his comment that being with him over the other side of this line, would be more dangerous but safer, because he'd be able to protect me properly. I was beginning to think that either way, a hand gun and some target practice was looking a very good idea.

When the glaziers had gone, I settled down to prepare next week's classes to send in. There was knock on the door. I was certain I knew who this would be and it was: Daniel. He stood there looking like he'd been hewn from marble. By then I was in pissed off mode and left him standing on the porch. I leaned against the door jamb and didn't let him in.

"I owe you an apology." He said in a voice dripping with seductive qualities. I said nothing and didn't meet his eye; knowing full well what would happen if I did. "I'm sorry." He continued. I still didn't reply. "I was in Canada."

"They don't have phones in Canada?" I snapped.

"There was no service where I was."

"They don't have landlines?"

"Not in the forests of British Columbia. I picked up your message early this morning and came straight back. I heard what happened."

"I thought I was protected."

"It… didn't work. Can I come in? Please?"

I shook my head.

"Do you want me to go?"

"Yes."

"Just for now? Or forever?"

I thought about it. "A couple of weeks. Give me three. I need time to decide whether I can go on with this." I still hadn't looked him in the eye; knowing that this was the best chance I had of being resolute. I added one further thing. "And take the shield thing away."

"Are you sure?"

I nodded. "Yes. It's doing more harm than good."

"I-I don't understand…"

"I want to feel safe." I snapped. "This… thing, this shield it's not shielding me at all - well, not what I'd call shielding. It just makes me feel even more uneasy about a situation that is frankly, starting to freak me out!" My voice left him in no doubt that I was angry with him.

"That's understandable." He said quietly.

"Can you make it stop?"

"I'm doing my very best to make it stop." He ran his hand through his hair, a sign I now knew, that he was stressed. Silence descended between us for an awkward minute. "Can I call you in three weeks' time?" His voice was quiet and sad, laced with emotion that I could almost touch. It made all this so very hard; but it was necessary. My breath caught as my heart declared war on my head, angry with it for taking away its drug of choice. But on this, sense prevailed and I would not be swayed. I had to get clarity. I nodded a yes, unsure now if I could get any words out. "If you need me just call; anytime." He added. I still refused to meet his eye and only bobbed my head in acknowledgement. He turned, walked off my porch and down the street away from me. My heart wanted to run after him; but reason won out. His was a dangerous world and I needed breathing space and the opportunity to get back to work and normality.

It was Saturday and busy in the department store. Ness and I had to stand in line for the changing cubicles to try our dresses on. Heather wasn't with us, having been called away at the last minute by the sudden death of one of her congregation members. Ness and I had come to Port Angeles anyway and I was enjoying being out for a while and Ness was good company. I was getting to know her better now she was a neighbour. She looked out for me and stopped by every day, amusingly rolling her eyes at Mike's assertion that he had it all under control.

"You bought her white bread," she remonstrated with him. "She doesn't eat white bread, she eats whole wheat."

"You do?" Mike looked at me with disappointment.

I smiled ruefully. "It's OK, I'll live."

"You should've told me."

"You should've looked at the wrapper." She mumbled. "So are you cleaning the bathroom, Mr Newton?"

"Nobody needs to clean my bathroom!" I was not an invalid but the pair of them seemed to treat me as such.

"Yeah, I'll clean it," asserted Mike. He seemed stung by Ness's comment that he hadn't been observant enough to know which brand of bread I preferred.

"Good! Well, I'll leave you to it." Ness said goodbye and skipped out of the house. A minute later I heard her car roar off down the road. Did that girl ever drive slowly?

The answer to that was no. We'd made Port Angeles in record time and I didn't think the speedometer had dipped much below one hundred the whole way there. For a girl who lived with the Police Chief, she seemed remarkably brazen about breaking the law.

"Don't you worry about getting caught?"

"No." She said, seamlessly overtaking a group of five cars ahead of us. Even at this speed she drove calmly and instinctively; almost as if she and the car were one.

"What about Charlie?"

"He can't catch me." She grinned.

"He could be lying in wait ahead."

"No chance, he's lying on the sofa watching ESPN."

"Todd? Ryan?"

She laughed. "I'd like to see them try."

"You don't have any respect for the law?"

She looked at me, her dazzling smile now decidedly impish. "I know everything and I'm immortal, why would I bother with the law?" And as if to prove a point she drove faster.

"Typical teen." I laughed and hoped like hell we didn't get caught. This would take some explaining.

But we didn't and here we were, choosing dresses for the wedding. Ness was also taking in a selection of underwear to try on.

"I miss Jess; I never get to do this kind of stuff anymore."

I chuckled. "Jake doesn't want to help you pick out underwear?"

"Oh he would, but… I don't know…" she shrugged. "Choosing underwear isn't the sort of thing you can do with your guy or your parents for that matter." I agreed with that. "There are some people you just don't want to be with when you're doing this. It's awkward."

"Hello Stephanie."

A familiar voice startled me and I looked behind Ness and saw Anthony; with Marie by his side.

"Oh hi!" And that was pretty much all I could get out. I hadn't seen Anthony and Marie in daylight before and the pair of them were stunning to look at, as stunning as Daniel was. I couldn't quite believe how beautiful everyone was around here. Was the Pacific Northwest home to a super race of humans?

"Going somewhere special?" He indicated to the dresses I was holding.

"Yes, a friend's wedding. Well, I say friend, I don't really know them that well they just invited me." I laughed, struck by the thought that I was a wedding crasher.

"I like the rose-coloured one." Said Marie, she pulled out the skirt of the dress. She turned her head to Ness who was stood beside her and who was not being remotely Ness-like. The chatterbox was silent and pink-cheeked, as if caught doing something she shouldn't. "Hello." Marie said to her. "Are you a friend of Stephanie's?"

The tiniest squeak and a nod came out of Ness. Her eyes were as wide as saucers as they flicked back and forth between Marie and Anthony. It was so unlike Ness to remain stuck for words.

Perhaps an introduction might help. "This is Anthony and Marie." I said. "They attended the Astronomy classes I took earlier this year."

"Pleased to meet you." Marie continued.

It was still a moment before Ness found her voice. "And you." She finally managed. She was definitely uncomfortable.

"I think we may have met before, yes?" Anthony asked her. "At the Shed?"

Ness seemed to snap out of her trance-like state. "That's it! That's where I know you from, I couldn't place you. So are you guys OK?"

"Yes, thank you." Anthony was always so very formal and polite. He didn't speak like other eighteen year olds did and seemed far older than his years. I thought perhaps his parents must have had him later in life. "You're buying a dress for the wedding too?"

"Yes." There was an odd smirk on Ness's face.

"And other things, I see." There was one on Anthony's too.

"Well, I'll need something under it."

"Black will show under pale blue."

Marie laughed at him. "Since when did you have an opinion on ladies' underwear?"

"I'm just pointing out the practicalities." He grinned.

Marie hugged him and as I glanced at Ness I noticed that her cheeks were almost scarlet. Did she have a thing for him? He was a good looking guy when all was said and done. Perhaps there had been someone after all; he just hadn't been someone from Forks High School. She definitely looked like someone who'd come face to face with an embarrassing bit of her past.

"You know them from The Shed?" I asked when Anthony and Marie had gone and we were still in line for the changing cubicles.

"Not really, just a couple of times when the band have been there. I don't go all that often now that Jess isn't around."

"I couldn't help noticing your reaction to Anthony. Did you and him have a thing?"

Ness's eyes bugged and she looked decidedly repulsed. "Er, _no_!" She asserted. "Absolutely not in a million years. Never! Just, like, don't go there!"

Protesting too much, that was classic covering up. She did have a thing for him and perhaps Marie got there first, or had takenher place.

I grinned at her and sought to tease it out of her. "He's a good looking guy, they make a lovely couple."

"They're very much in love." She said. There was no hint of malice or yearning for what could've been.

"They're young, they'll get over it." I smiled.

"I've got a feeling they won't. They'll be the kind of people who'll be all over each other like a rash when they're thousands of years old."

"What's thousands of years old to someone like you? Forty? Fifty?"

"I was thinking more…" she appraised me. "Twenty seven?" She grinned and my mouth dropped open in mock horror.

My dress was chosen. Ness discarded her selection but decided to buy the underwear. We got lunch and stopped by the little coffee place around the corner from where I used to live, the place where I'd met Daniel. I couldn't help glancing over to the sofa in the corner where we'd sat that morning and I'd fallen asleep next to him. Did I dare admit to myself that I missed him? That I'd spend the entire time today, scanning the crowd for a glimpse of him like I'd had in Seattle? But he wasn't here and I had told him to keep out of my life for three weeks. He was only doing what I'd asked him to do.

The week had been quiet: No drama, no notes and no nocturnal visitors. Even Lyra had calmed down and had ventured back onto my knee for the first time in ages. She jumped up and did it now. I reclined on the sofa, periodically sticking a knitting needle down my cast to scratch the itch. I was so glad that this week it was coming off and I could return to work. I was desperate for normality and desperate to have my home back without people coming in to help me with things. I'd really appreciated Heather and Mike and Ness, but after a while I'd just wanted to yell at them and tell them to go.

I stared at the wall in silence and my head made its own entertainment by picking out an image of Daniel, giving me a look that I knew would reduce me to putty in his hands if he were here. The price of Daniel staying away was peace. The price of him being part of my life was pressure. What would be the price for me being part of his life? As much as I missed him, I relished this peace and normality.

Ten days later and with the aid of a stick to keep some of the weight off my ankle, I stood in front of a class again for the first time in seven weeks. It was like the first day of the school year all over again and teaching skills lain unused for a while took a few tough turns to get back working as they used to. But I was supremely prepared, picking up precisely where I needed to thanks to the diligence of substitutes. It was good to be back and in the staff room Mr Greene had laid on a celebratory welcome back lunch for me and everyone else. Mike attached himself to me like a limpet and it seemed right to tell people how much of a help he'd been while I'd been laid up. I was still playing this charade of a relationship game with Mike, even with Daniel out of the picture.

With Mike away getting some food, Bex made a beeline for me. "Finally!" She said, "I thought he'd never go. So? How are things with you and him? Do I need to start looking for a hat?"

"No, it's still early days."

"Stephanie it's been five months." She looked uncomfortable. "Look, I wouldn't usually ask this, it's a person's private business, but is the reason you're not sleeping with him to do with a faith issue?"

"What? _No!_" I hissed. I was shocked. "Bex! We're in school!" And then I was suddenly curious. "Has he said something?"

"He mentioned it to Todd the other night in the bar. Said you two hadn't spent the night together yet. I wondered if you were a Christian or something? One of Heather's crowd?"

"Do I look like one of Heather's crowd?"

"You hang around with her a lot."

"She's the girlfriend of my next door neighbour, I see her a lot. I like her. But no, it's nothing to do with that."

"You don't like him enough?"

I pulled a face, unsure exactly what to say or if to say anything, seeing as it was incredibly personal. This was absolutely not the place, but it was so typically Bex, she had no idea of whether a conversation was appropriate for inside or outside work. "It's complicated." I said, finally. "But essentially I need a break after Scott. I wasn't intending to be in a relationship with any guy this year. Mike was unexpected; but I still need a little distance."

"Scott mistreated you?"

"No, but I was with him a long time. I'm sure if Mike likes me enough, he'll wait." Having dropped the equivalent of a thousand tons of dynamite on my equanimity; Bex, eyeing Mike returning, promptly disappeared again. But not before I realised that where Daniel's life intersected with mine the lies began and that made me uncomfortable. It wasn't just danger I would be getting with Daniel, but a whole lot of other insidious things that would become part of my life.

I made a special effort to be attentive to Mike, I felt completely shamed about the way I'd treated him. I didn't dislike Mike at all; he was lovely and if there wasn't the spectre of Daniel looming large in the shadows, I'm sure by now he'd be in my bed every night. But something held me back and that something was six foot four of blond assassin who called me exactly three weeks after we'd last spoken. I'd had time to think about him and had made my decision.

Life without Daniel was very peaceful. My days were ordered, well organised and crushingly boring. Dan Taylor had been right. When you've had wonderful, you can't ever go back to nothing special. He may bring with him the entire forces of darkness, but I'd never met a man who'd had such an effect on me; who'd made me feel aroused, from simply lying next to him in a bed and not even touching me! He was addictive; the worst kind of narcotic and the desire in me had spent every moment apart from him prowling like a wild animal looking for her next meal.

We talked for a few minutes on the phone and I invited him over. As he walked over my threshold, the time we'd spent apart had brought back those fears of him again, this sense of him being 'other-worldly'. To look at him afresh made me realise how porcelain-perfect his skin was. There wasn't a blemish, a mark or a line on it. He was so utterly beautiful to look at. His scent was every bit as overwhelming and a hit of it was like the biggest dose of a drug. His voice too felt like listening to melted chocolate and he made every animal instinct in me come alive. If I could have done, I would've growled at him.

Did he see that in me? He certainly saw something that made him uncomfortable. He walked into the living room and pushed up the window a little. I tried to calm myself, but it was no use, adrenaline and arousal were a heady combination. But I needed to say something to him before I lost it completely.

"I want to get to the line. How do I put the pieces of the puzzle together?" My heart was still going like a train. I wanted him so much!

He looked at me. "Think about it logically. What do you know? What do you think? What do you sense? Put it all together and I'll see if I can help you with the final couple of pieces." I was mesmerised by his mouth and I was fighting back the overwhelming urge to run over and kiss him. He seemed to be aware of the spell he held me under and a mischievous grin spread over his face, sending fresh waves of indecent thoughts through my head.

Desire shoved reason aside and made me declare where I stood. "I want to be with you." I stated. His face was an instant mask of concern.

"You don't know what you're asking. Don't say that until you know, _really know_ what you're wanting to be a part of."

"Why can't you just tell me?" He looked at me with a pained expression. I knew that he'd tell me in a heartbeat, but at the same time I knew why he couldn't. "It's too much to take in all in one go, isn't it?" I said gently.

He nodded. "If I tell all of it now, there will never be a time when you won't know. If you put it together piece by piece then you can stop if it gets too much. Also, if I tell you everything and you decide not to cross the line then that leaves you at the mercy of people I would rather you didn't meet."

"I would know too much?"

"Yes."

"I'll still work it out." I grinned.

His face was sad. "I'll prepare for the running and screaming then." He sighed. "I'd better go."

"You're always leaving just as I start to make progress. Please don't go!" I pressed.

"I'll stop by tomorrow."

"You can't. I'm going to Billy and Maggie's wedding."

"Sunday?"

"OK."

We said our goodbyes and he left. As the evening wore on I added to the notes I'd written before. I tried to look for patterns or for clues but nothing was making any sense. I was also thinking about what to say to Mike. I had to end it before it had really begun. I'd decided on Daniel and now, more than ever I wanted emotional clarity.

As I headed to bed my phone rang. It was Daniel.

"I have to go to San Francisco. Madison's in the hospital."

"Do they know what it is?"

"They suspect meningitis. Look I'll call you when I know more, I could be away for a little while."

"Of course." I knew how serious this could be.

"I'll call you when I can." He hung up and I went bed imagining him driving through the night to get to his little girl. I knew that staying away wouldn't be an option for him; he loved her too much to be anywhere other than as close as he could get to her bedside right now.


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter Fifteen: Wedding**

The entire reservation had turned out to celebrate Billy and Maggie's wedding and so had the sun. It bathed the coast in a golden glow and that, coupled with the several glasses of champagne I'd had, had created a very mellow atmosphere. I was sat with Heather. Both of us were newcomers to an area where the people on front of us had lived for centuries. Heather was our designated driver for the day and Charlie had taken the opportunity to have a drink or two - or eight and was currently engaged in animated conversation with Jake and Ness. I couldn't hear what was being said over the music, but by the pink nature of Ness's cheeks I guessed that it was embarrassing her. She wasn't coming back with us tonight. Jake's new house was complete and, in a change to the usual custom of the groom moving out of his parents' house; it was Jake that was leaving home today. Billy and Maggie would have the red cabin, while Jake was moving into his brand new forest home.

We'd stopped there on the way down, dropping Ness off with a bag of stuff. For someone who was only staying the night she was taking a very big bag. We'd turned off the main highway shortly before the start of the reservation and followed the dirt track for what felt like miles. Just as I thought we might come out on the other side of the peninsula in Bremerton, the forest opened out into a clearing. Heather stopped the car and I got out, my jaw falling open in awe.

"Impressive isn't it?" Whispered Charlie.

I nodded. "You can hardly describe it as a cabin." Mansion was more appropriate. It was truly enormous and built in wood, which the bright sun emphasized the orange tones of. The house was three storeys high and dominated by a large central section, the front of which seemed to be made entirely of glass. Off to either side were three floors of what I assumed were bedrooms. The second floor of the central section appeared to be mostly living room; the window was concertinaed back and from it came loud rock music. Ness walked up to the door and went straight in, dropping her bag in the hallway.

Inside, the wood theme continued but not in a traditional or rustic way. The entrance lobby was large, off which I could see the kitchen and a dining room to the left. There was another living room off to the right. The dining room contained an enormous circular table that appeared to have come directly from Camelot. Around it were twelve chairs. Ness caught me looking.

"Do you like it?" She asked. Her expression was odd, almost as if she were waiting for my approval. "Come take a closer look at it."

The tiles of the lobby gave way to the wooden floor of the dining room. It was light and airy and here too were floor-to-ceiling windows which opened out to an enclosed courtyard garden. But I was not here to look at the view, but the table. It was a work of art, a beautiful polished surface, inlaid with coloured woods that picked out a design.

"It's a Quileute pattern," she explained. "Very special to the tribe."

I looked at the workmanship, it was exquisite. "Is this handmade?"

"Yes. My cousin Edward made it."

"It's amazing." I was almost breathless with astonishment.

"I know. All the more amazing because we didn't know he was making it."

"Is he going to be at the wedding?"

Ness shook her head. "No, he can't be here. I wish he could; but circumstances… "She tailed off. "You know…"

I did. I thought of Daniel. He'd texted at breakfast this morning to say that it was confirmed to be meningitis and that Madison had started treatment. It was too soon to say if she was responding.

I ran my hand over the wood. "It's beautiful. I didn't think he was a carpenter?"

"He's not, but looking at this I think he's kind of wasted as a Pharmacist." She shook her head bemused. "I still can't get over it, or him." She said quietly. "Look at the attention to detail." She pointed at one of the chair backs. On the back of each one was a circular carving of a wolf and a little girl.

"Is that a Quileute legend?"

"Sort of."

"What does it represent?"

"That there's no such thing as impossible." Ness stared out of the window, lost in a moment that seemed so private that it would have been rude to have spoken. "I need to do something to say thank you to him." She wiped a tear away from her eye. Sniffed and shook her head, as if to banish further tears. Her face lit up. "Oh! I forgot to tell you our news. The band's got a gig, in Italy!"

"Italy? You're big in Italy?"

"Well, no." She laughed. "Actually, it's some friends of Edward and Bella's who want us to play at their wedding. They're flying us all out there and we're going to stay at the place that Edward's parents have in Tuscany. I'm so excited! Jake's coming too and I'm thrilled about that bit, 'cause he needs a vacation."

"I'd love to go to Italy. When are you going?"

"Graduation night."

"So, no partying until dawn then?"

"I'm not really a party girl anymore."

I noticed the sadness descend. "You miss Jess?"

She nodded. "Everyday."

"But you have Jake now." And at that she grinned. "Tell me about this house, this is huge just for one person."

"It's been built for a reason. Jake is the chief of his tribe, so in one way this is like the tribal headquarters. But he wants children himself, so there's lots of room for that."

"How many bedrooms does it have? Six? Seven?"

"Twelve."

"What?" I laugh burst through my lips. "How many kids is Jake thinking of having, enough for his own tribe?

She smiled. "Jake has a large extended family too."

"Are they all coming to live here?"

"No, but they drop by from time to time. We want to make sure there's enough room for them all to do that and there's space if we need to expand.

"We? You're counting yourself in this?"

"Very much so." She was suddenly very serious.

"Is he 'the one'?"

"Yes."

I wrinkled my nose. "Aren't you a little young to be settling down? What about going to university, having some life experiences, seeing who else is out there?"

"Jake's the one." She said again.

"How do you know?" I pressed.

"I just do. Let me show you around."

Ness took me on a tour of the truly magnificent house. I couldn't quite reconcile the shabby red cabin Jake was moving out of, his ownership of a car repair business and the amount of money that would've been needed to build this. It had to have cost in excess of a million dollars and Jake just didn't look like the kind of guy who had kind of money. I kept my questions to myself though.

Back at the post-wedding party, Ness was still blushing at whatever Charlie was saying. Jake had his arms wrapped around her and was rocking her gently from side to side as she leaned back on his chest. The pair of them had been absolutely inseparable all day. Charlie made his way back over to where Heather and I were sitting.

"Do you mind if I go and catch up with Billy, say goodbye?" He asked Heather.

"No, go ahead."

"I won't be long; I know you need to get back."

"It's fine, I'm all prepared for tomorrow."

"I'll be back in a few minutes."

As Charlie walked away Heather laughed and muttered, "Sure you will." She looked at me. "He's acting like he's never going to see Billy again. The guy's only going away on honeymoon for two weeks."

"You think Charlie should've married Billy?" I laughed.

"That's actually not a bad idea." Heather chuckled. "They're in each other's pockets all the time anyway. Both Maggie and I are aware that with these guys, you buy one and get one half free. Maggie gets half of Charlie and if Charlie and I make it permanent, then Billy comes in the bundle too."

"So, do you think it's going to be permanent for you guys?"

Heather looked at me. "I'd really like it, but…"

"But what?"

Heather weighed me up, as if she was wondering if I could be relied on to keep a secret. "I'm very good at sensing things. Don't ask me how, I don't really know; but there's something in people's eyes that I can read and I can tell when they're hiding something. On one hand I feel very much part of the family. But I get the oddest feeling, that among all the honesty and openness between them, that there's something being hidden in plain sight. It's not some deep dark secret that they struggle to keep hidden; it's something that's just not mentioned. Every so often I get a glimpse of it. As if the tilt of a mirror would catapult me into a whole other world. I'm sure this sounds crazy and as if I'm expecting to find the entrance to Narnia in the laundry room."

"No, it's not." I replied. I didn't know how much to say about the situation with Daniel, but I could relate to that feeling that there was information that you weren't party to.

Heather sighed. "I'm sure it's me being overly sensitive. Things are a little complicated at the moment. An old friend's been back in touch and it's thrown everything up into the air as far as Charlie's concerned."

"Old friend, as in old _boyfriend?_" I guessed.

Heather raised her eyebrows. "I wish! When I was eighteen this guy was who I wanted to marry. He was a friend of my parents and he'd stop by now and again. In my late teens he stopped by a _lot_." She smiled and then her face fell. "He helped to soften the blow after Dad died."

"I'm sorry."

"It's a long time ago now. But he and death have a habit of mingling. He was there for me when Dad died, got in touch again when I became a Pastor and when Mom died a year and a half ago, he kept me going." Heather smiled again. "He's only a year or two older than me and every bit as gorgeous as Daniel. But in one of life's cruel twists, he was never interested in me and he disappears for the longest time. He used to send amazing letters which I read over and over again. In the last couple of years he's taken to emailing and every time I open a message from him, I'm eighteen and in love all over again." She sighed. "Ironic. The second I give up on him and finally decide on a guy, back he comes into my life like a boomerang."

"But he's not interested in you, right?"

Heather shook her head. "No, but sometimes I wonder if he's a little apple of temptation that gets dangled in front of me every so often, to see if I'll bite."

"You wouldn't…?"

Heather shook her head. "Oh no! I would never go behind Charlie's back. Besides, with Charlie it was a bit of an odd _love at first sight_ thing. I couldn't get him out of my head from the moment we met. I'm sure of my feelings towards him, but as I said, I think there might be more to Charlie Swan than he's letting on. I kind of wonder if it'll get to a point where he has to tell me what the big secret is, if he's as serious about me as I am about him."

I was a bit stunned. Heather was in the same position I was. Did I dare unburden myself to her; let her know that we shared that situation? I thought about as I watched Seth dance with his incredibly pregnant wife. Heather was a Pastor; if there was anyone I could trust to keep it to herself it was a woman of God.

"It's like that for me and Daniel." I said. "Daniel's life is very complicated and there's a lot he can't say about what he does. I know hardly anything about him, but yet I just know I want to be with him."

"I can work out why." Heather chuckled. "He's incredibly good looking." She grinned at me and flashed her eyebrows in wicked amusement.

"He's lovely." I said.

"He's dangerous." Heather said matter-of-factly. I stared at her, my mouth suddenly dry. "Like I said, I don't know how, but I can see things in people's eyes and what I see in Daniel is incredible power under tight control. I don't think you're seeing one tenth of what he's capable of. It's the same trait I see in Ness and Jake, Edward and Bella too for that matter. That's the thing that perplexes me, their complete ordinariness when their eyes tell me something different."

Power under control? Well that certainly fit Daniel; he was an assassin after all. But dangerous? She saw that in him? "Do you think Daniel will hurt me?" I asked.

"It's not bottled-up violence I see; more like… Imagine driving a Ferrari sedately around the place, when you know that it's designed for and capable of so much more. That's what I mean by incredible power under control."

"And you're seeing this in Ness and Jake and in her cousin and Charlie's daughter? But they're not anything to do with Daniel."

"I'm not saying they are. I'm saying that it's what I see in them."

"Do you see it in Charlie?"

She shook her head. "No. Odd thing is, being here today; I'm seeing the same thing in so many of the people here. I thought it might be something unique to the Swan family or the Masen's, but now… Perhaps it's an Olympic Peninsula thing." She chuckled. "Maybe there's some weird genetic mutation going on."

"They're all turning into a race of super-humans?"

"Something like that, yes!" We laughed.

"There does seem to be a higher-than-average number of good-looking men around here." I said. "Daniel didn't stand out among the other guys in our astronomy group; Seth over there was part of it too."

"Yeah, I see it in him too."

"Are you worried about it?"

Heather looked at me briefly and pursed her lips. "I don't know. It unsettles me but more from a case of not knowing what it is, than being scared that it's something completely hideous. I'm nosey." She admitted, as if it was some gross failing in her. "I don't like not knowing."

"Neither do I, that's why I'm so anxious to know about Daniel."

Out of the corner of my eye I became aware of someone. I turned my head and found the angry figure of Korvin Silversmith glaring at me as if I had no right to be on his territory.

Heather saw it too. "That's one angry young man. Other people have something he wants." She said.

"Really?"

"That's what I see in his eyes, intense jealousy. He's being left out of something and he doesn't like it."

"Can you tell what it is? He's causing problems at school. If we knew how to help him maybe he'd settle down. He's taken against me for sure. He described me as an 'insult to him on a moral level.'"

Heather laughed. "You really must be a very bad girl if you're an insult to someone on a moral level. What did you do, sleep with his brother?"

I laughed. "I have no idea. Take your pick from attended an Astronomy class, dated his Biology teacher or expressed an interest in a man completely unrelated to anyone in this area. Who knows? May be I left one too many buttons open on a blouse. I really don't know what his problem is, but I wish he'd get over it." I flicked a glance back to Korvin and his visible hatred unsettled me. Back came Charlie from saying goodbye to Billy and not a moment too soon, so I could escape the unfriendly glare.

Ness spied us making to leave and ran over with Jake to say goodbye. I looked at her with interest, wondering what it was that Heather could see in her eyes, but I couldn't see anything other than the usual Ness. Charlie made some comment about her staying in the house with Jake for the first time and she rolled her eyes at him.

"You've said it enough times Grampa. I get it; I'll try not to be pregnant by morning." She affectionately punched his arm.

"Grampa? He's not that old." Heather laughed.

"Oh, I don't know." Said Charlie with a sigh, "There are days when I feel every one of my fifty years.

"He is a Grampa." Ness continued. "How old's Renesmee now?"

"Twenty months. Wanna see her latest picture? Bella sent it to me yesterday." He pulled out his wallet and opened it. Ness glanced at it and rolled her eyes, but Jake took hold of the wallet and looked at it for the longest time. He went surprisingly mushy for a guy.

"Look at her, nearly two already, so grown up. She's so beautiful and so like Bella."

"You think?" said Charlie, taking the picture back. "I see more of Edward."

"Nah, definitely more of Bella."

Ness looked at me, pulled a face and inclined her head towards Charlie and Jake as if to say 'Can you get these two?'

Heather interjected, peering over at the photograph. "She's a beauty and I know you wish you could see more of her."

Charlie passed the picture to me. Renesmee certainly was a very beautiful little girl, stunning brown eyes and hair in a cascade of gleaming auburn curls.

Ness came and stood next to me. "She's cute I grant you, but I know the real Renesmee Cullen. She may look all sweetness and light, but underneath that butter-wouldn't-melt-in-her-mouth exterior, is a trained killer. Fact."

Jake snickered. "Oh come on Ness, so she pulled your hair. She's a baby, that's what babies do."

"I know! And that's why I had to move here, that's how it starts. You let them get away with a bit of minor hair pulling and before you know it they're out slaughtering mountain lions in their pyjamas."

"My granddaughter would never be out slaughtering mountain lions in her pyjamas."

"No?" Queried Jake.

All of a sudden Charlie, Ness and Jake collapsed into a heap of giggles. Heather and I looked at each other. She rolled her eyes. "OK, what's so funny?" She humoured them. "You can't laugh like that and leave us ladies out of the joke."

"Well, it's not so much of a joke, more a case of how things are." Charlie grinned. He leant his elbow heavily on Ness's shoulder and grinned at her. "Why would Renesmee never be out slaughtering mountain lions in her pyjamas?"

"'Cause Alice would insist she gets dressed." Replied Ness and there was more snickering from the three of them.

"That's just not funny." Heather sighed and folded her arms. She looked at her watch.

"I know," said Charlie. "But it's funny to us because we know Edward's sister. Believe me; Alice wouldn't let you do anything in the wrong clothes."

"And there are clothes to hunt mountain lions in?" Heather questioned.

"Oh, absolutely." Jake said, quite seriously. "You try doing it in anything less than Prada."

"And you regularly hunt mountain lions? Isn't that illegal?" Heather added.

Ness looked at Charlie. "Is it illegal?"

I dunno, why you asking me?"

"Because, you're like… the Police Chief?"

"Oh yeah… Um… I think it is."

"You think it is? Isn't it your job to know stuff like this?" Ness grinned.

"Yeah, but it's Saturday, it all leaks out of my head at the weekend. Cut me some slack kid; I'm getting old."

Ness put her arms around him. "Aww, shall I carry you to the car Grampa?"

"No, but walk with me."

The pair of them walked over to the car, followed by Jake. Heather dropped back to walk with me. "You see what I mean? Hunting mountain lions in Prada? No explanation? No sense? It's just there and what are we supposed to make of it?"

"Doesn't the devil wear Prada?" I laughed.

"May be? And why would a twenty month old girl be out hunting mountain lions in her pyjamas?"

"What's a mountain lion doing in Remesmee Cullen's pyjamas in the first place?" I snickered.

Ness turned back to look at us both. "That." she said "Is a very good question." She guided the ever-so-slightly wobbly Chief of Police over to Heather's car.

As Heather drove back to Forks I dozed slightly, picturing Daniel in my head. I was tired and very nearly dropped off to sleep. I must have mixed everything up together because the Daniel in my head turned into a jaguar and started chasing a little girl in pyjamas through the forest.

When we arrived back, Heather kissed me on the cheek and something unspoken passed between us; a look that said I could trust her and that I could confide in her. It felt as if a great burden had been lifted from me.

I unlocked my door, went in and flicked lights on. The sight that greeted me made my heart stop. Across the far wall of my living room, in letters eighteen inches high were the words 'leech lover'. From the colour and the drips that ran down from each letter, there was only one substance that this could have been written in.

Blood.


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter Sixteen: Trauma**

Heather showed me into her guest room. She placed my bag on the bed, put the glass of water on the night stand then turned and hugged me.

"Stay as long as you want. Forever if needs be." She smiled.

"Thanks." I said, trying to smile in return, but the muscles in my face didn't appear to be working. My head was fuzzy and my verbal output had been reduced to words that contained only one or two syllables. I seemed incapable of anything more right now. Heather had insisted that I stay at her house tonight and I was thankful of that.

I sat down on the bed, still too numb to take in all that had happened in the last few hours. There was nothing I could do and Charlie hadn't wanted me to look at what had been done to my house. The blood was repulsive, the words 'leech lover' were confusing at best; but that were not the source of my real distress. That had come when I'd discovered the source of the blood: Lyra. There was a stake through her heart, with another message written on a piece of paper stuck to it.

**Mitchell does this.**

How they, whoever 'they' were, could do that to a little cat, I could not even begin to comprehend. The thing about Daniel spilling blood I got, but Lyra? Of everything to go for in my life, my cat! How could they?

I'd spent the last hour and a half in Charlie's kitchen with Heather. She'd made Camomile tea, sat with me and listened to the few half-finished sentences that I'd managed to utter. The screech of tyres outside alerted us to someone's arrival and Jake and Ness bounded through the door. Gone were the happy, smiling faces of earlier. Ness looked almost panic-stricken. Both she and Jake had changed clothes, both of them had swapped their wedding attire for cut offs, t-shirts and tennis shoes. As Ness came into the kitchen her cell phone rang and seeing who it was she walked quickly back out of the kitchen and into the living room. Jake pulled out a chair, turned it around and sat down straddling it.

"I'm so sorry." He said. "I can't believe what they did to your cat."

"I don't think it's a good idea that you were over there, you could've contaminated the crime scene." Heather was sharp with him.

"We didn't go in," said Jake. "Charlie was in the hallway."

"How long does it take to arrange a clean up?" She continued, sounding exasperated.

"I don't know, it's Saturday night, I guess they're not exactly over-staffed."

"Stephanie's going to stay with me until it's done."

"That's very kind of you." He said.

"It's the least I can do. Why are you here anyway?" Heather was almost accusatory. "Why did you and Ness have to come all the way down here? You're not Police officers, what can you do?" Jake looked distinctly uncomfortable. "You know what I think?" Heather went on. "I think you know darn well what's going on here. Stephanie's house has been attacked twice. I may not have been here long, but I did my research before I came and that's unprecedented in this town. There's virtually no crime. Someone slashed her tyres, threw a rock through her window and now this? What next? I think you're here to make sure that the Police don't get involved with it."

"Heather, I…" I tailed off. This wasn't to do with Jake and what could I say about things with Daniel, without betraying him?

"Is this to do with the guy who was glaring at Stephanie at the wedding? What was his name?" Heather looked at me.

"Korvin." I replied.

"He was there?" Questioned Jake. "I didn't see him."

"Yes, he was there and glaring at Stephanie. He wants something he can't have. You're the leader of that tribe Mr Black, what is it? What is it that I see in your eyes and the eyes of so many of your people down there? Is that what he wants and can't have? Do you have some big secret that he's jealous of and for some reason, he's taking it out on Stephanie?"

"I don't know what you mean. There's no big secret."

"Don't give me that Jake; there _is_ something, I can see it in your eyes and you owe it to Stephanie to tell her. You don't kill someone's cat and write on their walls in its blood for nothing." Heather was getting agitated.

"Jake?" Ness walked back into the kitchen.

"And what's your part in all this, Ness? It's gone midnight, who's phoning you at this hour? You're having a conversation so secret that you have to go to the other end of the house not to be heard?"

"Heather, don't…" I said weakly. "This is nothing to do with Ness and it's nothing to do with Jake."

"Sorry, but I don't buy that." Heather folded her arms and looked up at Ness. "Your eyes tell me many things Vanessa Masen. Last summer, they told me how physically and emotionally lost you were. These days, I usually see how much you're in love with Jake. But right now, I see eyes that want to kill."

"Well that's understandable; my friend's house had just been desecrated."

"But she's just your teacher, your next door neighbour. Your eyes tell me that this much more personal than those relationships. Is there family involved here?"

Ness was suddenly very serious. "Heather, you know Edward's my only family. He's miles away and he's not even from here; so how can this be any more personal than simply wanting to care for a friend?"

"Oh, it is Ness. That Edward is miles away and not from here is the truth. But he's not your only family, I can see it. The new picture Charlie was passing around of Renesmee earlier, proves to me that he's not. I don't know why you're parading Edward about as your only family, when your family is right here in Forks."

"I'm not parading Edward about!" Ness snapped.

"Well, maybe not, but that's the story isn't it? That you're an orphan and the authorities tracked Edward down when your parents died? True, you do have a striking resemblance to him, but perhaps you're missing what others can see in you? Jake can see it, but maybe Jake's in on it?" Heather's gaze was steady on Ness. "Bella has Charlie's eyes; unsurprisingly Renesmee has Charlie's eyes. But what's more surprising is that _you_ have Charlie's eyes. Don't tell me that you're not in some way related to Charlie, because your eyes are a dead giveaway. Don't lie to me anymore Ness. There's enough being kept hidden here without us arguing over the proof of genetics." There was a very awkward silence. "I'm sure in time you'll tell me." She added.

"There's nothing to tell, shall I get my birth certificate for you?"

"Your birth certificate will only tell me what you want it to tell me. I know I've hit on the truth, but the rest will keep for another day. Right now we're here to support Stephanie. What's more important to me at this moment than who your parents are; is why, off the back of that phone call, you want to go out and kill people? What makes this all so personal to you? Do you know this Korvin?"

"Of course I do, he's in my grade; or was, before he bailed. It's no secret that I don't like him, there are few that do."

"He's not worth it, Ness." I whispered.

"OK." Accepted Heather. "So you want to kill this Korvin? Hmm… Odd."

"What?" Ness sounded indignant.

"Your eyes don't tell me that. Nice sidestep, Ness."

"I don't know what you mean? If Silversmith did this, then sure I want to kill him."

"So, perhaps the link isn't there. Perhaps the link is with Daniel."

"Are you going to tell me that I want to kill Daniel, or that my eyes are the same as his? Because I don't know how _that_ can be possible." Ness's tone was sarcastic.

"I don't know," said Heather. "I haven't seen Daniel's eyes in their real state, so I can't tell for sure."

Ness scoffed. "Of course you have. What do you mean?" Even I looked at Heather.

"He wears contacts."

"Huh? Plenty of people wear contacts." Interjected Jake. My Dad does."

"Brown ones?"

"So he's wearing brown contacts, what's the big deal?" Jake shrugged.

"He's hiding something."

"He's hiding way more than the colour of his eyes." I said. "Please don't pry into Daniel's life!" I implored. "So much is at stake."

"So why's Ness taking all this so personally?" Heather continued and suddenly it was as if she was a dog that just would not let go of the bone.

"Stop it! I don't _care_! I don't care about anybody's secret life except Daniel's and now I've said too much in even admitting there's something to hide. All I care is about protecting him. He's not here to defend himself or tell us what the big secret is. The only questions I want answers to right now are to know who killed Lyra and who the leech is that I'm supposed to love. Daniel is many things but a leech is not one of them. He gives as much as he can!" I was up on my feet and pushing past Ness and Jake, out of the kitchen, out of the house and into the cool night air.

I woke to find bright sunshine streaming through the slats of the blinds. There was a brief moment of blankness, a vacuum, before the reality of yesterday rushed back in to fill the void. My head filled with a heady cocktail of marriage, death, secrecy and blood. The enormity of it made me wince and an ache set up within me. My cell was flashing and I grabbed it from the night stand, finding a cheery text message from Daniel. Madison was making good progress and he hoped to be back in a few days' time. I read the message twice, not to confirm what he'd said, but to confirm what I was feeling inside. The urge to run away was back and it was stronger now. Whoever these people were knew of my decision to choose Daniel over Mike and they were back trying to warn me off. They may have succeeded this time.

I went downstairs. I could hear Heather talking animatedly to someone. She was stood by the living room window and she was on the phone.

"OK, I'll see you after the service, then." She laughed girlishly. "I'll look forward to it. See you later, Bye!" She pulled the phone away from her ear and looked at it incredulously as she pushed the button to end the call. She turned to face me, her eyes shining as if she were lit from within by her own personal sun. "You'll never guess who that was."

I smiled. "No, probably not."

"That was Kael."

"Sorry…?" The name meant nothing to me.

"Oh, didn't I mention his name last night? The man I wanted to marry when I was eighteen!"

"Oh, him." I was still slightly sleepy.

"He's passing through and wants to stop by and say hello."

My brow furrowed. "Passing through? How do you pass through a peninsula?"

She shook her head. "I don't know; I don't really care for that matter. All I care about is the fact that I'm going to see him again, for the first time in… Oh my goodness, twenty five years. Where has the time gone?" He hand fluttered to her hair. "I'd better do something with this." She crossed the living room back into the hallway.

"Heather? What about Charlie?"

She turned back to face me. "I'm a realist. I know that he's not here for anything more than to say hello, but…" She sighed. "As I said last night, when I read his letters or his emails, I'm eighteen and back in love with him again."

"But I thought you loved Charlie?"

There was a flicker of uncertainty on her face. "It looks like Charlie and I have some talking to do. I do love him, but I don't think this is going anywhere until he can be a whole lot more honest with me."

"What do you think it is?"

"Worst case scenario? Charlie has another daughter that he finds it difficult to admit to having. I think Ness is the product of something between him and Edward's mother. His marriage fell apart very soon after Bella was born and it's not out of the bounds of possibility that there was someone after that."

"But Edward? Of all people? He ends up marrying his half-sister's half-sister? I know they say it's a small world, but that's ridiculous. It sounds like a plot line from one of those awful daytime shows."

"How do you explain Ness's eyes then? They're Charlie's, no doubt about that."

"But why wouldn't he admit to being Ness's father? Surely there's no shame in that these days?"

"This is a small town. Some people's attitudes are every bit as provincial as the place is. There could be a sizeable number of people who wouldn't take kindly to the Police Chief having a daughter out of marriage, even one as lovely as Ness." Heather sighed. "And whatever the heck all this is, I do like Ness very much. I love Charlie even more."

"I hope you can work it through, you guys seem perfect for each other." I noticed that Heather seemed worried. "What's wrong?"

"Kael always gets in touch just before something big happens in my life: My eighteenth birthday, Mom's death, becoming a Pastor, Dad's death. All the significant events of my life have happened with him showing up right before them."

"Perhaps Charlie's going to tell you everything and propose?"

"Or perhaps Charlie's going to tell me everything and it's all going to fall apart because I can't deal with it."

"But if it's what you fear the most, that Charlie has two daughters, then you're prepared for that already. And that's hardly going to be a deal-breaker, it's not like infidelity."

"No, but I'm worried why Kael's coming to see me. He usually writes or emails, he never stops by. I haven't seen him since Dad died, so whatever it is, I'm worried that it's big."

"Can you get much bigger than marriage?"

"Death? What if it's another death? What if it's Charlie?"

"I say we stick with the marriage thing." I tried to be reassuring, but she had voiced my own unspoken fear as soon as she'd mentioned the list of life events.

Heather went to the mirror. "Oh look at me; I'm even more of a mess now. I was excited before and now I'm just anxious. Pull it together Scott!" She chided. "I have a service to lead and oh! I'm late! Look, help yourself to whatever there is. I have something in the freezer we can have for lunch. I'll see you later. Possibly; if I can wing it, with Kael in tow. Actually, forget the anxious thing; I can't wait to see how he turned out." She grinned. "I hope there's hint of distinguished grey in there; I do like that in a man."

"Perhaps you should take Kleenex? You know drool is never attractive." I smirked.

She grabbed a couple from the box. "Good thinking! I'll see you later." And with that Heather swept out of the house to her morning service.

I breakfasted and returned Daniel's text with a brief note that I was glad to hear that Madison was coming along well. I said nothing of what had happened; mainly because I honestly didn't know where to start with it. Admitting to it was giving it more houseroom in my life than I wanted to have. Towards noon Charlie stopped by, to say that they'd done all the forensic work and that they were starting the clean-up. I didn't really have much else to say. He being potentially Ness's father was neither here nor there in life's great tapestry. Whatever was going on, it was most definitely not something for me to interfere with and certainly not before he and Heather had had chance to talk about it. Plus, there was Ness to consider as well. I hadn't been in any state to stop Heather last night, but unsettling Ness right before her finals, wasn't going to send her in to her last two weeks of school fully able to concentrate. I hoped she was OK this morning.

I thought about her and how easy her relationship had been with Charlie last night. If she was worried about her parentage, it'd never shown on her face or in her behaviour, although she did go off the rails last summer and ran off. But who wouldn't when your best friend got raped and it was also the anniversary of your parents' death – if they _were_ her parents. Perhaps she did know that Charlie was her father, but kept up the charade to keep everyone in the town happy. Ness's world had been rocked enough by the death of Jess at Christmas. That was enough for anyone to have to deal with, without the rest of us poking our noses into things that were none of our concern.

I sensed that Charlie was waiting around for Heather to arrive back. I told him she was meeting someone after the service, an old friend who'd called that morning. I didn't mention who it was and Charlie didn't ask. He left a little while later but it was clear he had things to say. Maybe Heather confronting Ness had brought things to a head?

Noon came and went and so did the early afternoon. I went to the freezer and tried to guess what Heather had thought we'd have for lunch. There was a lasagne and I took a stab that that was it. I took it out, put it in the microwave and started to defrost it. The afternoon ticked by and at every moment I expected Heather to come bursting through the door with the handsome man from her youth. But she didn't. When she finally arrived back, it was not the Heather I was expecting.

She was terrified. She had wild eyes and had been crying. I met her in the hallway. "It didn't go well?" I asked. "Did he give you some bad news?" Perhaps he was the one that was dying? Heather didn't reply. "What is it?" I could see her trying to form words but nothing came out. "Come and sit down." I guided her over to her sofa and sat her down. I poured her some coffee and placed it on the table in front of her and sat down next to her. Her fingers were tightly clasped together and the bones of her knuckles stood out from the tension she was under. She said nothing for an age. Her eyes stared at the wall ahead or occasionally back at me. They were full of tears and fear.

"Well, that serves me right for poking about in other people's secrets." She finally whispered.

"What do you mean?"

Heather turned to face me. "I need to share this with somebody or else my head will explode. I don't like bottling things up, it causes damage and this one's going to tear me apart if I don't say something."

"Don't you think you should share this with Charlie?"

"No! It'll scare him away!" Tears started to cascade down her cheeks.

"Is it that bad?"

"It's off the scale of bad; it's beyond Neptune in magnitude."

"What is it, what did he say?" I was shaking now, this was clearly going to pale my own secrets into insignificance, Heather wasn't a person to overreact; she was Miss Level-Headed.

Heather fixed me with a look. "Can I trust you to keep this _absolutely_ to yourself?"

"Yes."

"You can't tell another soul, absolutely _no one._"

"I promise."

"He looked the same."

That didn't compute. I was expecting at least the disclosure that he was an axe murderer come to confess his crimes. "What?" I asked, perplexed.

"He looked the same, he looked _exactly_ the same."

"Wearing well?"

"No _exactly_ the same; like, identical to when I was eighteen. I'm forty three, I have greying hair, I have wrinkles and I have a stomach that looks like a deflated balloon. He wasn't a day over nineteen."

"He's not aged?"

"Not a day."

"_How?_" I was all ears.

Heather blew out her cheeks. "OK, there are two more statements I'm going to make and then I might have to quit my job and leave town. I don't know if I can cope with this." She got up and went over to her bookshelf. From her books she selected a small paperback. "He'd tried to tell me years ago and was hoping I'd put together the clues. Well, I wasn't paying attention and I couldn't see all the dots of the picture, because I hadn't seen him." That statement resonated with me. She sat back down, flicked to the index, looked something up and went to the right page. She snickered, put her finger in the page and shut it again. Its title was away from me, I couldn't see what the book was. "You like history don't you?"

"Yes."

"Then it's fortunate that you're the one here today. Of all the people I know, you're the one best placed to appreciate the timescale involved in this."

"So he's not nineteen then?"

"No. He's many _thousands_ of years old."

"Thousands? So, he's not human then?" She didn't reply verbally, she just shook her head. "What is he?"

"Guess. Somebody who turns up at the really important points in your life, the really stressful points? What kind of person might do that?"

"A guardian angel? He's an angel? You believe him?"

"He looks exactly like he did at nineteen; that alone kind of confirms he's telling the truth. But there's more proof, which I'll get to in a second. But he's no ordinary angel. Do you know much about the Bible?" I shook my head. "Well, back in Genesis and in a couple of other places, it mentions angels that fell from heaven. There was a rebellion against God and he's one of those who fell. He's a chief angel, perhaps you might say a captain and he's one of twenty one captains that fell. This is my pitiful human brain trying to explain it. Anyway, he's in this book which he gave me, along with some other books when I became a Pastor. I read it but I never gave it much thought. But this is him." She opened the book and handed it to me. At the top of the page the chapter heading was 'Kael'. "He was right there under my nose all the time. He was hoping I'd spot it, ask him about it and I never did."

"So, you have a guardian angel?"

"Oh." She sighed. "There's more."

"More?"

"Yes. As if an angel isn't going to mess with your head enough. Him handing you a note from your own mother is guaranteed to screw it right up. This is the part I'm struggling with the most." She pulled out of her pocket a yellowing envelope and placed it on her lap. I guessed at where this was going.

"Is this a letter from your Mom that tells you that you're the daughter of an angel?"

She nodded. "Thank you, I didn't think I could say it out loud." The pair of us were silent for the longest time. "It feels like everything I knew about my life has been shaken to its very foundations."

"But you're still you. You're still Heather Scott, whoever your parents are. Has he gone now or is he staying around?"

"He's staying around. I have his number to call him if I want to talk. Angels have cell phones now. Who knew?"

"Do you want to talk to him?"

"Not now, but in time I will. I already have questions that I didn't ask today. I do know that I'm his only child alive at the present time; but I have ancestral half-brothers and sisters going back to forever. That's something to ask about."

"Do you look like him?"

"Yes, I do. I have his eyes, how appropriate. I get my ability to know things about people from him, albeit watered down from what he can do. He knew what I was thinking and could answer my questions before I'd spoken them."

"That's quite freaky. And does he have wings?"

"I didn't get around to asking. After the revelation that he was my father, my head sort of, lost it. _Oh no_!"

"What?"

"The time! I have Susie Taylor coming around at five."

It was nearly that now. "Why don't you put her off for another day? I think you've had a big enough shock to be justified in cancelling an appointment. Do you want me to call and say you're not well?"

"No, Susie's coping with enough without me adding to her worries. She needs to talk about things to help her cope with them."

"And you need to talk about things too."

"We'll talk later, OK? Has there been any word on when your house will be ready?"

"No, Charlie stopped by earlier and said they were starting the clean-up. I can't think it'll be tonight."

Heather sighed heavily. "Oh Charlie…" She tailed off. "What a mess. And to think, there I was trying to pry some big secret out of Ness and all the time I have one of my own."

"Do you need to tell him? Would it make any difference if you didn't?"

"I have to tell him, I can't live in emotional turmoil. I see the damage it does in other people's lives. But I can't see Charlie easily getting his head around having an angel as a prospective father-in-law."

"He could be fine with it. He's a cop; perhaps he's good with weird?"

"Charlie likes his beer in cans, his baseball on the TV and pizza arriving in boxes from Donatello's. Angels are fiction. Angels are pretty little girls on Christmas tree. They're not guys wearing jeans and Vans."

"He was wearing jeans and Vans?"

"Yeah? What did you expect him to be wearing?"

"A… white loin cloth?" I smirked. "I'm sorry. It's just what you expect angels to wear."

Heather chuckled. "I guess we need to readjust our realities. It's good to lighten the mood. I suppose it would be like meeting a vampire and getting all put out because he wasn't wearing a black cloak and a red shirt."

"There'd be a lot more screaming and running away involved."

"Well, I never noticed I had an angel around me for twenty five years, so maybe there are vampires walking around incognito?"

"I think we'd know if someone was a vampire. Wouldn't they be nocturnal? Never coming out during the day and keeping their mouths closed, so you couldn't see their teeth?"

"Who knows? Anyway, Susie will be here in a minute. I'll just grab a sandwich and try not to spend the time freaking out about what I know."

Heather went into the kitchen and I followed her in there. "So Kael, your… Dad? He's still quite good-looking then?"

She looked at me quite surprised and a little embarrassed. "You know how I was feeling before I left this morning. I told you I wanted to marry him when I was eighteen. Obviously, now I know why that was never going to happen. But he's still nineteen and still devastatingly gorgeous; as you'd expect an angel to be."

"So what does he look like?"

"Tall, very slim. His hair's sort of mousey; I get my blonde hair from Mom. His is neither blonde nor brown; it's sort of in between. He has blue eyes, a flawless complexion and looks exactly like the kind of guy you see in clothing catalogues. He's very striking"

"So are you telling me that your Dad could pass for your son?"

"Yes. It's completely tragic." The pair of us laughed.

"You couldn't introduce me could you?"

"You are _not_ going out with him." Heather's eyes were wide with amusement.

"I wasn't thinking about _that_. I was thinking that he's more of a walking history book. I'd like to talk to him purely out of professional interest." I grinned.

"Yes, and that's the smile of a woman who knows how a guy's pants undo."

"I'm shocked Pastor! Ooh, does this mean you have a hotline to God? Aren't you his like granddaughter or something, then?"

"God does not have Granddaughters." Heather's expression was now serious "Kael's a fallen angel. He not part of that anymore. His lot is to wander the earth for eternity and he has his own baggage to deal with." Heather resumed her food preparation and quickly threw together a sandwich. A knock on the front door alerted us to Susie's arrival.

"I'll let her in." I said. "And I'll make myself scarce." I added.

I opened the door to the sad face of Susie Taylor. It had been five months since Jess's death and by the look of it; time was not easing her pain.

I went back upstairs and closed the bedroom door behind me. In the time I'd been downstairs there'd been two more text messages. One from Mike saying that he'd heard what had happened and asked if I needed his help at all. I replied that I was fine and that I'd see him tomorrow. There was another message from Daniel. Compared to what Heather was going through, whatever Daniel's revelation turned out to be was going to be minor in comparison. But still, nobody had ever tried to stop Kael from getting in touch with or visiting his daughter. Daniel wasn't going to turn out to be an angel, much as I'd thought that right at the beginning. Whatever Daniel was mixed up in, it was something horrible. Away from him I had clarity and could see that I didn't want any part of it. Why did I blow so hot and cold around him? One minute I wanted him and the next I wanted to be away from him. I couldn't make up my mind which way to turn.


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter Seventeen: A Walk in the Park**

We'd hit Monday running, some of us faster than others. It had taken a little while for my brain to clunk into gear. I'd returned to my house late on Sunday evening and hadn't slept well. I'd woken up in the early hours convinced I was being watched and I hadn't managed to get back to sleep for ages. Now, of course, I felt like death warmed up and there was every possibility that I'd be fully converted into a caffeine-based life-form by noon. Mike had already proved himself as great boyfriend material by swooping in with the largest coffee from Fredericks on the way in. I even let him kiss me and it felt good, very good in fact. Mike was everything that Daniel wasn't: Here, attentive, not remotely dangerous and very affectionate. Today he was making me laugh; which, given what had happened, was what I needed more than anything.

The week flew by. If I wasn't teaching or invigilating, I was winding up for the summer. I had reports to write, final grades to submit and there wasn't a moment to myself. I felt Lyra's loss but didn't have the time to dwell on it. I promised myself that the second school was done; I'd bolt my door and hide under the quilt for a week. Daniel was still away and to be honest, I was glad he wasn't around. I didn't want to have the conversation with him that I knew would have to come. It was too painful. I couldn't live like this anymore. Killing my cat had been the last straw. Mike and I on the contrary were getting closer, so much so, that he suggested that we go hiking on Saturday. I jumped at the chance. Finally, I'd get out into Olympic National Park.

Saturday dawned bright and clear. Mike arrived at my house on the stroke of eight and handed me a pair of trekking poles. Or what I thought were trekking poles.

"You ever done any Nordic Walking?"

"Do Nordic people walk differently to Americans?" I grinned, looking at the straps that were attached to the tops of the poles.

"It's really big in Europe and it's getting popular here. I thought you'd like to have a go. I'll teach you."

"Walking is something you need to be taught?"

"There's a technique to it, but it doesn't take long to pick up. The poles propel you along faster and it's good for increasing your fitness."

"OK, I'll give it a go."

Mike drove for a while and parked up at the head of a trail. He produced a map and outlined a circuit. "It's seven and a half miles, which I don't think is bad for a first go at a trail."

"You've done it before?"

"Yeah, it's one of my favourites."

We set off and at first I was hideously uncoordinated with two poles strapped to my hands. There was a lot of stupidity as Mike taught me the technique and repeatedly got it wrong. This was more so I could steal kisses from him than me being genuinely abysmal at it. We were supposed to be moving at speed along the trail, but speed became sauntering and as the sun reached its highest point in the sky, we decided to break for lunch, coming to rest by a particularly large tree. From his backpack, which I'd supposed was full of survival gear, Mike produced a banquet.

"Mike this is crazy." I laughed. "I can't eat this much food and still walk, you'll have to roll me back." He produced a bottle of red wine with a flourish and I snorted. "Oh that's just ridiculous!"

"No it isn't, there's nothing ridiculous about wine." He unscrewed the bottle and poured two generous measures into plastic cups.

I savoured the wine and soaked up the sun, allowing the cares of the last few weeks to evaporate off me. Daniel felt like an unhealthy addiction that I needed to get over and the sun was blinding my eyes after what seemed like spending forever of darkness. This was good, this was right; I'd stay here in the sunlight. This was bliss!

What was not bliss and was utter stupidity was the walk back to Mike's car. With him being the driver, he'd had only one glass of wine. I'd drunk the rest of the bottle. That, on top of a pile of food and the heat of the sun made me a liability. On the way back I was tripping over everything in my path, so it was only a matter of time.

"Shit!" I yelled, as down I went to the ground, my weakened ankle buckling underneath me and shooting pain up my leg that even in my anaesthetised state I could feel. I tried to clutch my ankle, but the poles were still attached to the hand straps. I ripped off the straps and threw them angrily into the undergrowth.

"Don't take your boot off," said Mike. "It'll swell even more. I need to get you back to the car. I hope you haven't broken it again."

"So do I."

"Let me help you up. We need to keep going."

He helped me to my feet and very slowly we started down the trail again. We didn't make very good progress, I was in agony and chastising myself for getting drunk and in this compromised state. I went from happy and chatty, to whiney and miserable in a matter of minutes. On and on we walked and tears of laughter turned to tears of pain.

"How far is it?" I whined.

"Not far now, another mile."

"Another _mile_? Oh no!"

"I think."

I caught the uncertainty in his voice. "What do you mean you _think_?" My whininess vanished in an instant.

"It's been a while since I walked this trail. Everything looks different."

"Are you sure we're on the right path?"

Mike was silent for a moment. "Honestly? No." He admitted.

"Fabulous." I muttered.

"If I go to that ridge over there, I'll be able to pick out the way back. Do you mind waiting here? I won't be long; twenty minutes at most."

"No." I was grateful for the chance to sit down and rest.

Mike went off and I searched through his backpack fruitlessly for some pain relief, but there was none. Twenty minutes came and went, then half an hour but there was no sign of Mike. I tried to call him on my cell (pointless, there was no service out here) and I scratched rude messages to him in the path with the metal ferrule on the end of the pole. An hour passed and it became clear that either Mike had injured himself or he'd gotten even more lost. Either way I really shouldn't linger. Better that I got myself to the end of wherever this trail went and back to civilisation.

As I struggled to my feet I heard the sound of running. Someone was coming up the path from the direction Mike had gone.

I expected Mike to come into view, but it wasn't Mike who appeared, but Jake Black, out for a run.

"I am so glad to see you!" I nearly burst into tears with relief in seeing a friendly face.

"What are you doing out here?"

"I'm out with Mike, but I've hurt my ankle and I think he's got lost."

"What?" He laughed. "The trail ends about half a mile ahead. Where was he going?"

"He went down to that lookout point about an hour ago."

Jake's face changed to one of concern. "About an hour ago? He should've made it back here in twenty minutes, tops."

"That's what he said."

"I should go look for him. Are you OK here for another few minutes?"

"You won't get lost will you?"

Jake laughed. "No, I know the park like the back of my hand."

"That's pretty much what Mike said."

"Yeah? Well in my case it's true. Don't worry, I'll get him and come right back. Set your watch, I'll be fifteen minutes at the most."

"OK."

Jake ran off in the direction Mike had gone and I settled back down for another wait. It was chilling off now and I was beginning to feel the cold. Suddenly, something happened, or rather nothing happened. Where there was birdsong and the sound of other small wildlife, it was as if someone had pushed the mute button on the world. I couldn't hear a single thing. Not a chirp, a rustle or a call. The world was holding its breath.

Ahead of me the ground dropped away into a gulley and I thought I saw a blur of movement in the trees below. I focussed my attention on it but there was nothing there. A feeling of panic enveloped me and I grabbed a walking pole, holding it out with two hands like a light sabre, ready to hit anybody that came my way. There was a sharp crack close by, as if someone had stepped on a branch. My head whipped round at the sound, but there was no-one there. Just then, in the corner of my left eye, someone came into my field of view. I turned around and the scream in my throat died before I had chance to vent it.

Before me was a man and the most enormous wolf I had ever seen. That, in itself would be cause for screaming, but that was not what I wanted to scream about. The reason I wanted to scream was that the man had Daniel by the throat.

"Miss Chambers." He said. "Thank you for making it so very easy to find you today. I believe you know Mr Mitchell."

I recognised the voice as being the same man in the stairwell of my apartment building. But I didn't look at him, because all my focus was on Daniel. He looked dreadful, as if he'd been dragged through the forest. There was a corresponding look of terror in his eyes. His eyes were drawing my attention though, there was something different about them; they looked weird. They looked… ochre-coloured.

"My colleague," the man continued. "Tells me that Mr Mitchell no longer occupies your affections. May I congratulate you in that? You have made a wise choice and I hope a long and healthy life is granted to you as a result." I kept my eyes fixed on Daniel. "Sadly for you this is unlikely to be the last time you see Mr Mitchell. You may have chosen another; but he, the pathetic creature, cannot. The fool has allowed himself to bond with you and so is destined to spend the rest of eternity pining for you. I am a merciful man so I am willing to spare him the agony. In this I am doing both you and him a service."

As the speaker's words sank in, my eyes moved upwards to him and another bolt of panic flew through me, as I registered the speaker's bright red eyes. To the side the impossible wolf had his eyes fixed on me too. It was huge, to the middle of its back it had to be nearly six feet tall.

"Focus on me Miss Chambers." My attention snapped back to the speaker. He was very pale and his face was framed by short, neatly clipped black hair. His clothing appeared to be from another time, it looked almost Victorian. "You've noticed that I am somewhat anachronistic. I will not explain why, you are not meant to know. But I will tell you my purpose here. It is to rid the planet of those pathetic specimens, who insist on trying to integrate with humanity." That made no sense to me and my confusion must have shown on my face, because he raised an eyebrow in query. "You have not guessed what he is?"

"No she hasn't." Came a disembodied voice.

"Good! Well done Mitchell." The man shook Daniel by the throat. "You did something right then." The man turned his attention back at me. "Let me explain Miss Chambers. There are many of these pathetic creatures in this area. My good friend Mr Wolf here has told me all their identities and in time I will deal with them all. In this, Mitchell's demise will serve as a warning to others who seek to demean our species by choosing to associate with lower life-forms such as yourself."

I still hadn't the slightest idea of what he was on about. What lower life-forms?

"She's still not getting it." Said the voice.

"No I don't suppose she does with such a limited intellect. Humans. Always convinced that they're the top of the food chain. Think again. You're not the hunter, you're the hunted. You would've been his prey, had he not fallen in with a band of imbeciles and started trying to fit in. Working, living in houses and yes Miss Chambers, falling in love. Pathetic, it will never work. None of them can deny their true nature indefinitely. Such defiance of the natural order is an abomination and sets itself up in opposition to the ancient and very noble house of…" He cut off. "I do not need to tell you of such things, they are above your comprehension."

Above my comprehension? I'd gotten my head around Heather having a father who was an angel; I had intellect enough for this guy.

"I think you should stop this." Said the other man, his voice told me he was over to the right of me. "There's no point stringing it out and I have better things to do. I want out now."

The red-eyed man looked confused. "Stop this? You don't want to watch the destruction of Mitchell, after all these months? To see the fruition of what we've worked for?"

"No. You finish it off. There's been too much death and destruction in my life." The wolf snarled at him. "You can say what you like. I really don't care anymore." I've found something good and I want to work on that." There was a rustle close behind me. "Please keep facing forward Stephanie, but this bit is for you. I'm sorry about your cat. I'm sorry about the unpleasantness that has been inflicted on your life and I'm sorry for this whole mess. This may come over as racial superiority from them, but it's mere jealousy."

The red-eyed man gave a hollow laugh. "Very droll. Please, don't tell me that you too have fallen under the spell of humanity.

There was a blur and where there once was a wolf there was a very naked Jackson Green. "Hey we had a deal wingman; you can't go back on it now!" He spat and turned to the red-eyed man. Come on, finish it up! I've had my gut full of leeches and one, perhaps two less even, would be a very good use of my day."

"Leech?" I said. The word coming from my mouth caught Jackson's attention.

"Leech, as in what your precious Mitchell is. What do leeches do Miss Chambers? Or have you not had enough personal biology lessons yet to get that far?" He chuckled menacingly. "Leeches suck blood. Figure it out for yourself." He spat at me and Jackson turned back to the red-eyed man. "Kill him and do the school a favour and finish her. I want to get the hell out of here." He blurred back into a wolf.

"No!" Shouted the man behind me. "I won't allow this."

"You won't allow it?" said the red-eyed man. "You knew this was plan all along. Besides, she's made her choice; you've told us she doesn't want him. Think of it as a kindness, this way you'll spare him an eternity of anguish. He'll only go after her if we let him go."

"I will not be party to the taking of another man's life."

"He doesn't have a life, he has an existence. What sort of life is consorting with humans? You of all people should know that it gets you in to such a wretched mess. We are above all that. Mitchell here is a traitor to our cause."

"Your cause?" The man behind me laughed. "You wouldn't know a cause if it came up and smacked you in the face. All you're interested in is yourselves."

"And quite right too. Looking after number one is what we do best. You should know about such things, isn't your friend Satan into that."

"He's no friend of mine!"

"Really? So what are you doing still here then? Fly away home why don't you?"

The wolf phased back again.

"Just get on with it! You can argue theology later!"

"Yes indeed. We will get on with it. Miss Chambers?" I gave the red-eyed man my attention, but my eyes slipped again to meet Daniel's anguished ones. "Catch!"

For a moment I was transfixed as Daniel's eyes widened in horror and then my mouth caught up with my brain and vented the scream, just as Daniels' spinning head cannoned into me and everything went black.


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter Eighteen: Go**

I opened my eyes to gloom. Outside I could hear the rain pattering on the window. I turned my head and a fierce ache set up inside it. I brought my hand up to it, making sure that my brain was still in my skull. It appeared to be.

I opened my eyes a little wider and realised that I was in bed. Whatever else I'd been expecting, that seemed to be the most remarkable. I tried to think why being in bed would be something I didn't expect. My brain was fuzzy but finally, little remembrances came to mind: Bright sun. A glass of wine? No, a bottle of wine. A pole, or a stick for walking. Why did I need a stick for walking? My head was the thing that hurt, not my ankle. Bread. Eating bread. Mike. I was eating bread with Mike. I was outside. Red eyes, black hair. There was a man with red eyes and black hair. Wolf, there was a big wolf. Jackson Green? What was he doing in my head? He had the head of a wolf. OK, perhaps there'd been way too much wine. There was something else. I tried to recall it but it receded as if I was being prevented from looking at it. I kept on trying to look at the memory. The more I looked, the more my head hurt. Now I was aware that other bits of me hurt, too. My chest, my back, my knees and there was a throb in my ankle. Things went numb and the images in my head played like a TV on mute. I had no engagement with them. I recognised self-preservation mode, my head was doing that a lot lately. There was some unspeakable horror that I was deliberately being kept from seeing. That was fine by me. There was enough in my head that I needed brain bleach for, without adding to the trauma.

I lifted my hand to my face to scratch an itch and as I did so, a tiny glint of my gold signet ring caught my attention. Gold. Gold eyes. Gold eyes and blond hair. Gold eyes spinning right toward me. The memory swept through my head like a tsunami and I relived the last moments of Daniel's life. I screamed in utter horror at the barbarity of it.

"It's OK Stephanie I'm here!" There was a smooth familiar voice and a hand touched my shoulder.

"_What?_" I turned my head and out from the gloom came Daniel's face. "Noooo!" I screamed and scrabbled frantically to get away from the ghost. It tried to hold me still.

"It's me! Stephanie it's me! I'm OK!"

"No, you're dead! Get away from me!" My backwards scrabbling tipped me off the bed and onto the floor. But the ghost was there, trying to lift me. I pushed and fought it with everything I had; kicking and punching and screaming. Daniel was dead and my mind was playing the most macabre trick on me. "Go away!" I yelled. I lashed out at it but my hand didn't connect with anything, it sailed right through thin air. "Begone foul demon!" I shouted but that just sounded lame.

"Stephanie, it's me, I'm fine!"

"You're dead!"

"Yeah, well… not now." I smacked myself on the side of the head to wake myself up. Cold hands gripped my wrists. "Don't hurt yourself!"

"Get off me!" I pulled away from the icy grip of the… manifestation, whatever the hell this thing was. "Go away!" I inhaled a lungful of air to scream and as I did so I collapsed into a coughing spasm, pain searing through my chest. I fell forward onto my knees. My chest hurt. It was apt to do that when you'd had someone's head thrown at it. So what was the head doing on this ghost? Shouldn't it be a headless ghost now?

The spasm subsided and I leaned up against the side of my bed. In front of me, sat cross-legged on the floor was this thing. This ghost that thought it was Daniel.

"Go away!" I yelled, setting off the coughing again.

"I want to make sure you're OK."

"You're dead."

"No, I'm fine, what you saw…"

"He pulled your head off!"

"It's back on now." The apparition pulled at his head.

"Please, go!"

"Stephanie, please, I'm fine. It's me, really me." Was this some sick joke?

"You're not real!"

He was suddenly in my face and the hit of his cologne was an unnecessary cruelty. "I am real!" He asserted. "You just felt me hold your wrists."

He did it again as if for effect.

"You're cold! Dead people are cold. Go the fuck away, please!" Tears blossomed.

"Please let me explain." This thing was messing with my head. Explain? I didn't want explanations about this, it was too much. I shook my head. "Please Stephanie?"

I shook my head again. "Please go." I whispered and shut my eyes against the sight of him.

"It's all over." The ghost said after a pause. "We got them and unravelled the whole thing."

I shook my head. "I don't want to know, please go away!"

"But it's over! We took them out! We can be together now!"

What the hell? My eyes snapped open. Anger at least was functioning properly. "You're damn right it's over! I don't want anything to do with Daniel, his life or whatever the hell thing you are. That part of my life is _over_! All it's brought me is fear and misery! _Get out of my house_!"

"Stephanie, I want to be with you."

"I don't want to be with _you_, you're a ghost!"

"I'm not a ghost! I'm Daniel."

"Then read my lips. Go, the fuck, away! I don't want you anymore. I'm with Mike now. I've had enough of the crap you've brought into my life!"

"I'm sorry for that, but I had to protect you."

"Yeah?" My anger was incandescent now and the sarcasm was in full flow. "Well here's a newsflash for you buddy, you _failed_ and I'm talking to a ghost, so enough already!"

"You're not talking to a ghost. It's me."

"I saw your head ripped off; tell me how it can be you?"

"I can't…"

I cut him off. "Back to this shit again. Goodbye Daniel or whoever the hell you are. The door's downstairs. Use it." I scrambled to my feet and limped past him to go to the bathroom.

"Stephanie…"

"You don't exist."

"I do exist!"

"You're a figment of my imagination." I switched the bathroom light on and he was right there in front of me. "Aagh!" I screamed as his sudden appearance made me jump.

"I am _not_ a figment of your imagination." His eyes blazed fiercely in that strange gold. "I only want the chance to love you."

"Well you should've thought about that before you dragged my life through the outer limits of hell! They killed my cat!" I screeched like a banshee.

"I'm so sorry about that, but it's all over now, it's resolved. We can be together!"

I glared at him, incredulous. "_What?_ You think after that, that I want any part of your life? Not only are you a ghost, but you're a sadly deluded one. What part of 'go the fuck away' don't you understand? And what the hell happened to your eyes?"

"These are my eyes."

"Your eyes are brown."

"They're not." he said quietly. "I covered them up. They're gold."

I thought back to what Heather had said. "So what happened to the brown contacts?"

"There seemed little point putting them back in when you'd seen them. I thought I might give my real eyes a go."

"Speaking of _go_…"

"Please let me stay. I love you."

"Oh no you don't! Don't give me that emotional bullshit, you're a ghost and besides, I don't love you."

"Do you love Mike?"

"May be yes, may be no, perhaps in time, I don't know. But that's none of your business. What is your business is that you're in my house without my permission. Go."

"Please"

"Go." I said it again; quietly, calmly and with great restraint.

"I love you."

"I don't love you. I don't love the danger that comes with you. I don't want any of it. I'm staying this side of the line. Please Daniel, if that's who you are, then believe me when I say it's _over_."

"I'll explain everything to you."

"I don't want to hear it. Go."

Something seemed to get through to whatever this thing was. It walked out of the bathroom, down the stairs and I heard the front door close behind it.

There had been enough awfulness in my life and he was the source of it. It was time to rebuild; but first, I needed a bath. I set the water going and sat down on the toilet seat, noticing for the first time my neatly strapped ankle. How had that got there?

I shook the thought of him from my head and poured bath bubbles into the water.


	19. Chapter 19

**Chapter Nineteen: Believe**

"Ness? What's the matter?" Ness was leaning on the doorframe of my room looking forlorn.

"Oh, just stuff…"

"Anything I can help with?"

"Not unless you're good at putting broken people back together and can magic my parents up for graduation?"

Graduating High School and not having proud parents there would be making it a very bittersweet day. "Sorry, no can do. Can't Edward and Bella get here?"

She shook her head. "No, they can't make it."

"Pity. We're hoping to have it outdoors too, if it stays dry."

"Oh it will," she said sadly. "There won't be a cloud in the sky."

I laughed. "Are you a budding meteorologist?"

"No, but I know someone who is and they say it'll be a glorious day." She sounded sad.

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"I don't care what it does."

"You'll have Charlie though and Jake."

"Yeah…" She wrinkled her nose. "Graduation's supposed to be for your parents." She sounded petulant.

"I know. I'm sorry, this is one of those times when life sucks."

"Big time." She exhaled loudly.

"As for the broken person, Heather's good at putting people back together, why not try her?"

"Heather can't help this time. Besides, she seems preoccupied right now."

"She's got a lot on her mind."

"So do you." Ness turned to me. "You looked a million miles away this morning."

"Yeah? Well that's understandable with everything that's gone on." '_And you don't know the half of it'_. I added silently in my head.

My thoughts were on lockdown, or perhaps denial - the correct terminology for not thinking about things seemed a little irrelevant. It was the last week of school and there was a lot to cram in. Everything was gearing up for graduation. Now was not the time to be dealing with the catastrophe that was my life. That was Saturday's job. On Saturday, with everything in my professional life done with for another year, I would allow myself to think about the last two weeks.

Nothing made sense and right now I couldn't cope with any of it. There was too much: Angels, boys who turned into wolves, men with red-eyes, heads that came off and ghosts that sat on my bedroom floor pretending to be Daniel. That was an insult to his memory.

The bell rang for the end of lunch and Ness pulled herself up off the doorframe and I watched her walk away, the weight of the world on her shoulders. I totally got her point that graduation was for your parents to be there for. That was never going to happen for her, but it was sad that Edward and Bella couldn't make it. I realised that I hadn't asked her why. I was doing a lot of not asking questions these days. My brain had enough to cope with; it didn't want to deal with anything else.

Mike was full of apologies for leaving me stranded in the forest. He was deeply embarrassed at getting himself lost and having to be rescued by Jake Black. That wasn't something he was happy about at all. He seemed to have huge issues with Jake, to the point of comedy. But he did tell me what Jake had told him, which was that Jake's friend taken me to the hospital to get checked out, More lies of course and at the first opportunity Jake Black and I would be having a conversation. What was he covering up? Was he in on the death of Daniel? Yet more things to think about on Saturday.

Mike came around on Tuesday night, bringing a bouquet of beautiful pink flowers and something I did not expect: A goodbye.

"There's someone else. I've invited her to the Graduation party."

"Well, I wasn't going anyway, I thought I told you?" I'd already decided against enforced jollification, in favour of a quiet night in with a pizza, a bottle of wine and whatever fell out my head.

"You did tell me, but I thought you should know about her anyway."

"What's her name?"

"Jessica. She's an old friend, an old school friend."

"Oh."

"You don't seem very concerned. I was expecting you to shout, or scream or… something."

"It's pointless to get angry." I said quietly. "Life's too short."

"Are you OK? You don't look so great."

I shook my head. "I'm tired Mike." I sighed. "I want this semester to be over and I just want to sleep." I couldn't get angry with him. I'd treated him so abysmally this year and now, when I'd decided I wanted him, it was too late and that was fair enough. I hoped Jessica would be honest with him for one thing. Honesty was a commodity in short supply in my life. Right now; I had no clue where truth ended and the lies began. Mike and I said goodnight and I slumped back onto the sofa.

How ironic, that I had started the year wanting more in my life than teaching and grading, but now, reaching the end of it, relishing those very things, because the rest was too much to think about. In my job I was in control, I made plans and stuck to them. Outside of that I wasn't in control of anything and I wasn't even sure which way was up these days. I should be grieving for Daniel and I should be angry about Mike, but I wasn't. I was numb and inert as if every single emotion was on ice. I'd buy several bottles of wine with my grocery shop this week. Perhaps getting out of my head on Friday night would somehow allow things to come out. The tension was giving me a headache and it wasn't outside the bounds of possibility that I was in shock about the whole thing. How many of your students change into a wolf right in front of you? How many times does the man you… Oh. I juddered to a halt over the next word, feeling that by admitting it I'd be stepping off the precipice I was on. ._Love_. I sighed, acknowledging it. I loved him. I had told Daniel an outright lie. Not only was I in denial about events, I was also in denial about emotions. I was completely and irrevocably screwed up.

I woke in the early hours of Wednesday morning with the skin on face taut and I recognised the feeling of dried tears from back when I cared what Scott did. I couldn't settle back to sleep so I went downstairs. Something drew my attention to the bouquet of pink flowers on the counter top. There was now a single white flower in the centre of the arrangement. I realised with a shock that it was a moonflower – my favourite! How had I not noticed that before? My thrill at seeing a moonflower was immediately stolen, by fear of another note or another dismembered cat carcass. I walked around but nothing was out of place.

Back in the kitchen I caught a familiar scent in the air. It was unmistakeably him.

"Daniel?" I said. There was no reply. Well of course there wouldn't be, he was dead and this was just my mind playing another horrible trick. Didn't people who were grieving try anything to imagine that their loved one was back with them again? I closed my eyes and words that the red-eyed man had said came back to me.

"An eternity of wandering the planet, pining for her."

Sadness enveloped me as I acknowledged how I felt about him. I missed him. I honestly and truly missed him! There was an ache in my chest that wasn't connected to whatever had hit it, it was deeper and I was pretty convinced it was love. I didn't believe in ghosts, but with Heather and her angel for a father and the odd experience I'd had on Sunday night, was it a good idea to dismiss it out of hand? The ghost had said it wanted to stay and he'd wanted to explain. More than that, he'd wanted the chance to love me. In return I'd told him to go and had never given him the chance to do any of that. The moonflower was so very personal, it wasn't just any flower, few people knew how much moonflowers meant to me and Daniel was one of them. Did I have a ghost haunting me? A ghost, who'd given me a flower, that could perhaps say 'I love you' from beyond the grave?

A cruel warmth of emotion rushed through my chest and I acknowledged again what I should've done on Sunday. I screwed my eyes up against the pricking I could feel, but it was too late. Why did you only realise what you had when it was gone! I greeted the pale summer dawn in tears.

The day was hard, but at home that evening I brought the vase of flowers over to the coffee table, sat down, stared at the white moonflower and though of Daniel. I couldn't deal with everything, but there was one feeling that I needed to be honest with myself about and I needed to do this out loud. I needed to hear it. I was quite used to muttering to myself, but intentionally talking to an imaginary ghost felt odd.

"Daniel?" I said hesitantly. "I miss you." The tears started. "I'm sorry that I told you to go. I wish we could talk, even if I don't understand what's going on, at least it would be something." I suddenly felt very alone and very foolish. There was a knock at the door. I hurriedly wiped my eyes and went to answer it.

It was Heather.

"I've been convinced all week that something was up . You look in so much pain!" She put her arms around me and stood there as the dam of emotion burst and the shock and the distress of the last few days poured out in a flood of tears.

"He's dead!" I wailed. "Daniel's dead!"

"_What_?"

"They decapitated him out in the forest. I saw it!"

"_When_?"

"On Saturday. I… I…" I didn't know what to say. I took a deep breath and tried to get out what I could in one go. "Some people were trying to stop us getting together, something to do with what Daniel does, I mean did. They've been getting at me all year, in Port Angeles and here too. It was getting worse and worse, until the other weekend with the blood..."

"So were you with Daniel in the forest and they attacked you?"

"No, I was with Mike. Daniel was away, or I thought he was. And… and then… there he was, being held by this guy with the most horrible red eyes!"

"Red eyes?"

"Yes! And… And… Daniel's eyes aren't brown, they're weird, they're ochre, or dark yellow or…"

"Gold?"

"Yes, gold."

"And you saw them decapitate Daniel?"

I nodded. "The man with the red eyes pulled his head off and threw it at me. I blacked out."

Heather looked at me with suspicion. "Did you wake up covered in blood?"

"No. I woke up in my pyjamas in bed and with no idea how I got there."

"Were you drinking?" She laughed.

"Yes, but just wine and not more than a bottle. I wasn't out of it." I asserted. "I know what he saw and that guy pulled Daniel's head off."

"And threw it at you?"

"And threw it at me."

"Where are the clothes that you were wearing on Saturday?"

"Er…?" I looked around, I hadn't thought about that. "I don't know. I was wearing…. I turned around to look for my outdoor jacket and there it was, hanging on a peg. "This." I pulled it out and there was nothing on the front, but on the back there were several green stains that indicated that I'd been in the vegetation. "Look! Those are from where I fell."

"But where's the blood? And where are the rest of your clothes?"

I went to my laundry hamper and pulled out Saturday's pants. They were stained with grass and dirt, even a few drops of wine; but there was no sign of blood.

"But I saw it happen." I said weakly. "His head hit me in the chest, my ribs are bruised."

"Stephanie." Heather said quietly. "If Daniel had been decapitated, then you'd have been covered in blood. Perhaps it was something else that hit you?"

"It was his _head_. I'm not making this up."

"I believe that you were out in the forest, these grass and dirt stains tell me that. But something else must have caused you to black out. Where is Daniel now?"

"He's dead, he's a ghost."

"You think he's a ghost?" I knew at once that Heather thought I'd lost it.

"Yes, a moonflower appeared in the bouquet of flowers."

"Appeared? Are you sure you just didn't notice it first time around?"

"I don't think so, the flowers were pink; this is white, it stands out." Heather pulled a face. "Look, you of all people should know that there are more things out there than humans. Your own father's an angel so why shouldn't there be ghosts?"

"How do you know he's a ghost?"

I rolled my eyes, this sounded lame. "I think I can smell him."

Heather's eyebrows shot up. "I think you should see a Doctor. I think this is stress…"

"It's not _stress_!"

"You've been through a lot recently and this is a busy time at school. Look, you're clearly upset that Daniel's not around. Have you tried calling him?"

"He's _dead_!" I yelled and then realised that she didn't deserve this. "I'm sorry." I exhaled loudly, venting some of the tension from my body.

Heather rubbed her hands up and down my arms. "You may not want to admit it, but you're stressed. Can we back this up a little?" I nodded. "The gold eyes? Look, I know this is possibly making something where there's nothing, but Edward and Bella have weird-coloured eyes too and thinking about it, you could say that they're gold."

"His weren't the first gold eyes I've seen. When I was in Seattle at Christmas and fell on the ice, the guy who treated me and his wife both had gold eyes. Do you think there's some genetic quirk around here?"

"I don't know, but it would explain why Daniel's covering up his eyes with brown contacts."

"Why Daniel _was_…" I corrected her. "He's dead, remember?"

"Do you know that for sure?" She asked me straight out.

"No."

"I didn't think so. Your eyes don't convince me."

"On Sunday night when I woke up there was someone… something in my room that looked like Daniel. It said he was Daniel, but he was cold - like ice, you know? It, kept going on about wanting to be with me, that it was all sorted out now and that we could be together. I freaked. I told him to get the hell out of my life, so he did. I haven't seen him since."

"So my question about whether you've called him wasn't really that stupid. You could establish if he's still around?"

I shook my head. "If he answers what do I say?"

"That you'd like to give him the chance to explain."

"I don't know if he'd even want to speak to me. I was pretty clear about what I said."

"Give him a call."

I nodded. "OK." I said, in a near whisper.

"But perhaps give it a few days. On Saturday?"

"Yeah, I'll do it Saturday." Saturday was going to be a busy day.


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter Twenty: Vacillations**

In the sea of happy faces under the clear blue sky that she'd predicted, the sad face of Ness Masen stuck out. Graduation caps were raining down on her head but she didn't appear to notice. She was staring into the trees that bordered the school field. It must be difficult to be among so many families on today of all days. As her fellow students dispersed to meet up with their own parents, I watched her made her way through the throngs of people and into the waiting arms of Jake Black. She buried her face into his chest and I saw the tell-tale shake of her shoulders that indicated that she was crying. Jake held her tightly, rested his chin on her head and took his turn staring into the trees. I followed his line of sight, but I couldn't see what he was looking at. I guessed he was simply lost in thought. In the crowd I caught sight of Mike with a woman I could only assume was Jessica. She was tiny, but what she lacked in stature was made up for with curly brown hair that dominated her appearance. They were laughing with Principal Greene and suddenly I didn't want to be here anymore. Ness wasn't the only one struggling to be happy on such a beautiful day at this. I maintained a fixed smile as I made my way back through the crowd, into the school building and down the hallway to my room. The walls were bare, all my books and files were stored safely away and everything was straight and neat for September. I picked up my bag and walked out of the school.

Back home I kicked off my shoes and even though it was only four in the afternoon I poured a large glass of ice-cold wine from the bottle in the refrigerator. I drained it and poured more. I knew I'd regret this in the morning, but I had a year's worth of stuff in my head. Some that I wanted to think about and some that I wanted to forget. On the counter, the moonflower nestling in the pink bouquet was a tangible reminder of the endless list of things that hadn't made sense this year. I pulled the barrette out of my hair and let it fall in its usual brown curtain to my shoulders. I hooked the right side behind my ear, took another slug of wine and wondered where the hell I should start with all this.

Endless questions circulated and I struggled to pick just one to think about. Finally, I decided I'd start from the end and work back. If Daniel really was alive why hadn't he gotten in touch? My brain supplied two answers to that one. Firstly, I'd told him to go. I'd told him it was over and he'd gone. If that really was Daniel and not some ghost or other paranormal manifestation, then I'd let the man I loved slip through my fingers. I didn't know where he lived and something was stopping me from picking up the phone and calling him. Secondly, if he didn't answer then he really was dead. But if was alive and he did answer, then that raised more questions, not least how the heck I back-tracked on what I'd said. I could hardly use the excuse that I had no idea what I was saying. I'd repeated it more than once.

Armed with my bottle of wine and a giant bag of pretzels, I nibbled, drank and cogitated my way through the early evening, pausing only to order pizza. I wasn't thinking objectively about him, I was just very sad. What had started as a chance to think honestly had turned into wallowing in wine-fuelled unhappiness. I kept looking at my phone, daring myself to select his name and hit the green button. Why wouldn't I do the simple thing and find out one way or another if he was alive? It was fear. Fear that he wouldn't answer and that he really was dead. As long as I didn't call there was always the hope that he was alive.

My pizza arrived and as I paid for it, a commotion in the street made me glance outside. Ness, Jake, a large group of people, a stack of luggage and an even bigger one of instruments were being loaded into a truck for their flight to Italy. Ness was clearly stressed.

"Stacey, your make-up case is the least of my concerns right now!" She addressed this to an orange-coloured girl who was suffering from an overdose of bronzer. Unlike everyone else, who was casually dressed in jeans and t-shirts, Stacey was in towering white heels and a sun dress. A dress moreover, that left nothing to the imagination when it came to hiding her ample chest. In response to Ness's retort, she gave a shrug of her shoulders and flounced over to Dan; who stood apart from everyone else. Stacey draped herself around him and this seemed to anger Ness even more. Dan was dressed head to toe in black and half his face was obscured by oversize black sunglasses. He was desperately thin and even his skinny jeans hung off him. He'd scraped a graduation by the skin of his teeth and catching him sober was a rarity. Perhaps in dating Stacey he was starting to get over his wife? He didn't look all that happy to be with her.

I recognised most of the other members of the band. There was Ricky Scott and Zak Foster, both of whom had graduated last year. Ricky's girlfriend Chrissy stood by the truck with a baby in her arms. In spite of giving birth last November, Chrissy had been fortunate to have had the support of her parents, and come today's graduation, she was there receiving her diploma with the other members of her class. There was Karl Stevens who'd taken Jess's place in the band when she'd died. From the number of suitcases it seemed everyone was talking a partner and Jake and Ricky were loading the truck. Ness's nerves appeared to be soothed by a young guy I didn't recognise. He gave her a hug and the two exchanged whispered words.

"Good evening." Charlie's voice shocked me. I hadn't seen him standing to my right.

"Everything OK?" I gestured to the truck loading. "Ness seems a little stressed."

He wrinkled his nose. "Yeah, it's not been the greatest of days for her."

"But she graduated second in her class?" That was something to be proud of. She'd ended the year one point behind Pete Degrassi the valedictorian, whose toe-curling speech we'd all had to sit through this afternoon. There was genuine bafflement why Ness hadn't managed to come out on top, seeing as she was far and away Degrassi's academic superior. But no matter how much we added it all up, she came out a point behind.

Charlie shook his head. "She did well, but…"

"She was upset that her parents weren't there to see it."

"Yes, and now Dan's turned up with some girl he chose at random off the band's message-board. They all get to take someone and Dan's chosen an orange Popsicle. Ness feels it's going to be a long week."

"He picked her off the message-board?" I laughed.

"Yeah. It's about the limit of his engagement with life right now." Charlie exhaled. "I wish he'd get some help, but he just wants to wallow in it all. How he managed to graduate is beyond me."

"It's beyond the rest of us. I wasn't expecting him to. He hasn't submitted a coherent piece of work to me since Christmas. Perhaps Stacey will be his turning point and this week he'll realise that he has something to live for?"

"Don't hold your breath. It looks like they're pretty much done. I'd better go see them off."

Charlie walked back over to the group and I retreated inside to eat my pizza, drink some more wine and wallow in my own loss. I identified with Dan Taylor a little too much right now, but with my track record I wouldn't be losing weight through the experience.

I ate and drank until I felt uncomfortable. I switched on the TV and let it play in the background whilst I lay on the sofa in a carbohydrate-induced coma. This was not my finest hour and I thought back to my good intentions last August when my split from Scott had left me clear-headed and decisive about my future. Now I couldn't even settle on a TV channel to watch and flicked between half a dozen before settling on something innocuous.

Whatever my attraction to Daniel was, the experience of being around him had left me with a brain that had gone from analytical to useless. Why wasn't I thinking about things? Why, when presented with something as odd as half a million dollars' worth of jewellery, had I merely stashed it away? Why had I allowed Daniel to dictate things, including the ridiculous charade with Mike, which served no purpose whatsoever and resulted in one very awkward week staying at his parent's home? I didn't even get sex with either of them out of it; which, looking back now was a good thing. It would've made life way more complicated. When we'd shared a bed, Daniel had remained firmly on his half of the mattress, never touching me once; even though I'd left him in no doubt that I wanted more. I'd not ended up with a man-free year, but I'd gotten a sex-free one instead. I snickered to myself. "How pathetic." I said out loud to no one.

And what about the notes? The visits to my apartment? The incident on the stairs? The car accident? My broken kitchen window? My dead cat and the terrifying incident in the forest? Why was I not in Charlie Swan's kitchen right now demanding answers? Why was I not thinking about all this? I'd placed an unconsciously worrying amount of trust in Daniel. For some reason I'd believed him and Charlie Swan too, that this… thing was being dealt with and investigated. Had it been? Or had I been lied to there as well? The only time I had seen a Police Officer other than Chief Swan, had been in connection with the car accident. They'd drawn a blank and Daniel had told me that the incident was connected to the whole thing about him and that the Police wouldn't have found anything anyway. What about the attack on my house when Lyra was killed? Surely the Police would have swarmed all over that? But instead I'd been removed and when it was all cleared up I'd simply been let back into my house by Charlie. Was Charlie Swan privy to more information than he was letting on? I'd trusted him and now I wasn't sure of him at all.

What about Heather's assertion that she felt something was being kept hidden from her? I wasn't the only one who'd picked up that something wasn't adding up when it came to Charlie. I should question him more. Heather wasn't given to over-reactions, if both she and I were suspicious, then that was grounds enough to investigate. I'd make a point of getting to know Charlie Swan and discovering what exactly he knew about Daniel.

Then there was Jake Black. Right now I couldn't do anything about him as he was on his way to Italy. But he'd lied to Mike about what had happened in the forest and I couldn't ignore that. I knew there hadn't been another person with him, so why lie? And what exactly was going on down at the Reservation?

But compared to the minor gripes with Charlie and Jake, Daniel was one big conundrum. Did anything about him make sense? What on earth was he involved with that required the most mind-boggling secrecy? What would require you to remove every piece of information about yourself from the Internet? He'd said something about protecting his daughter. Did he really have a daughter? Could I rely on that? Had he really been married to Helen Mitchell? All that seemed deeply implausible; the CEO and her mercenary tactics just to get pregnant and get rid of her name. If she didn't like her name why not simply change it? You didn't need to get married to do that. Was Daniel just feeding me a line to keep me sympathetic to a cold-blooded killer? I shivered. What he did definitely unsettled me - big time. But even there I'd had a mental bypass. I'd said 'I can deal with that' and taken it on board. I could deal with a killer? Had I lost my morals as well as my mind along the way?

Now, it seemed so ludicrous when I stopped to think about it. He was an assassin who spent his nights, not even days, working on computer systems and who, as a side-line, taught an Astronomy class. Never once in the eight months I'd known him, had my brain lifted out of the marshmallow long enough to say 'Enough!' So if he really was dead then I was rid of a lot of impossible things.

But despite all those impossible things, there were other things that meant that I couldn't cast him away without hurting myself in the process. Was he really a cold-blooded killer if he was just doing his job rather than killing out of hate of a person? If he'd been hired to take someone out, was that any different to someone in the field of battle killing an enemy? You wouldn't describe a soldier as a cold-blooded killer; they were simply doing what they were trained to do. Was Daniel any different? Yes he murdered people, but… There my argument fell down. He took lives and I was struggling with it, regardless of how I was trying to rationalise it. If he really was dead then this was not an issue. But if he was alive, was it a deal-breaker?

Even within himself there was an odd juxtaposition. He was a killer, but he gave off such incredible vulnerability. He'd not been specific but something bad had happened in his past and caused deep emotional damage. I longed to hold him and to spend time with him, but he would never let me. He'd only stayed occasional nights and even then he'd never touched me. Apart from sketchy details about his family – which weren't his real family he told me – and the revelation that he had a daughter, I knew very little about him.

What information I had was totally random, I couldn't see any pattern or form in it. I didn't have anything to grasp hold of to start to put it all together. Especially now, when I'd drunk pretty much a bottle of wine. What was the point anyhow, he was dead. I looked at the bouquet of flowers and shook my head. No. That moonflower right there was evidence that Daniel Mitchell was not dead. Sunday night was evidence that Daniel Mitchell was not dead. He'd grabbed my wrists, I'd smelled his cologne and he'd spoken to me. I didn't want to admit it because it was just too much, too impossible, like everything else about him. But if he wasn't dead, where was he?

I had to call him and establish once and for all if he was alive, I sighed. There was only one glass left in the bottle of wine. I poured it and resolved to call him when I'd finished it. I flicked up the sound on the TV to distract me a little longer from what awkward conversation calling Daniel might result in. It was nine o'clock and the channel was re-running that vampire show that Jess Taylor used to go on about. This would be a distraction whilst I finished my wine.

Well, it was a distraction - until about a third of the way through and then the character of Alric uttered a line while I was reaching for another slice of pizza, that made me roll off the sofa in shock.

"I can't kiss you; if I do then you'll know too much about me." That line! That exact line that Daniel had used in the Newton's guest room as the reason why I couldn't kiss him. What a unique line to use, to be able to know too much about a person by kissing them.

After that I was transfixed and as I watched the rest of the show, a cold feeling spread through me. What I had in my life was not dissimilar to what the character of Christianne had in hers, as she tried to piece together the puzzle of Alric. He would barely touch her and only gave her a brief chaste kiss on the cheek - exactly as Daniel had. Alric never ate. We'd shared a pizza once, but for the life of me I couldn't remember him ever having eaten any, I'd eaten most of it and I think I'd saved the rest for the next day. All he'd ever had were tiny cups of coffee but had I ever seen him drink any of it? I racked my brain. No. But this was all circumstantial. Or was it? There was more: The man in the stairwell that night, the same one who'd been in the forest, had exactly the same colour eyes as Alric did - bright red. OK, so Alric was just a character in a TV show, but there was enduring mythology about vampires. I'd already discovered there were such things as angels; so perhaps it wasn't outside the bounds of possibility that there were vampires. Daniel didn't have red eyes, his apparently were gold; but the man in the stairwell had told me that my friendship with Daniel would result in my death. A vampire would need a victim, but I'd never thought they'd court them first.

My head was swirling, both from the wine and from the random bits of information that were now starting to coalesce. He had gold eyes not red eyes, but gold wasn't a colour you found in other people's eyes. Well, apart from that couple in Seattle and what Heather had said about Edward and Bella. My head joined everything together and came out with 'Daniel is a vampire.' I laughed.

"No." I said quite rationally. "He would've tried to kill me."

'_But Alric overcame his lust for Christianne's blood because he loved her,'_ My head supplied.

"That's a TV show." I asserted out loud. But I was off the sofa and walking – albeit unsteadily - over to the computer.

In the search box I put in vampires. That was a bad move, there were eighty one million returned results. This was as hopeless as trying to find Daniel. I scanned down the sites and hidden away, many pages down, I found a little site that focused on real vampires, not those that you'd find in a movie, a book or a TV show. I clicked on it, started to read and discovered almost instantly that the red eyes were a giveaway. I had met a vampire twice and lived to tell the tale! It said that real vampires would, if they were white-skinned, look very pale, as if they'd never been in the sun and that they'd feel cold and hard to the touch. Daniel was the palest I'd ever seen and when he'd grabbed my wrists he was cold. I couldn't vouch for the hard bit. I read on and discovered that vampires were created from a bite and they had all started life as ordinary people, of varying ages. They were immortal and contrary to popular belief, were able to be out in daylight. But for reasons unknown, they kept out of direct sunlight.

There wasn't a great deal of information but what there was, was presented simply and without hysteria. These people believed that vampires existed and they were out to document what they could. Tucked away at the bottom of one of the pages was a link to a forum. I clicked on it and discovered a small selection of topics. I read a couple of the threads. They were mostly people asking for clarification about what they'd seen, but one thread in particular sent a wave of cold through me. It was a link to a newspaper website and underneath was an explanation from the user, that this article was about her friend's death and that she didn't believe the explanation that the authorities had given. She believed that a vampire had been responsible for the death of her friend. She said she'd documented a vampire's occasional visits to a neighbour, this girl's grandmother. By studying local history and genealogy, she conjectured that this girl's grandmother was a descendant of a girl the vampire once loved. Her friend looked very like the drawing of a girl immortalised in a book of local folk-songs. As I clicked on the news website link, I glanced at the user details on the side. The user was Fi-Saurus and she was located in Cumbria, England. The next second I was face to face with a picture of Jess Taylor. I gasped. This girl was seriously suggesting that Jess had been killed by a vampire? I read the article. It gave all the details that I knew about the fire. The coroner had ruled that there were no suspicious circumstances, but Fi-Saurus didn't believe it.

I went back to the thread and read it again, clicking on Fi-Saurus's information and discovering that she was a frequent contributor to the site and had been there as recently as a few hours ago. I did the calculation: It was ten forty five here, so in England would be six forty five on Saturday morning. I read her replies to other people, they were mature and sensible. She backed up everything with references from where she'd gotten the information. Historical facts, I could deal with historical facts. She must have been one of Jess's friends before she'd moved to Forks, so this wasn't someone drawing random connections, she had known Jess. From what she was implying, Jess may well have been lured to her death, exactly as the mysterious red-eyed man had said would happen to me.

Should I contact this girl? Could she shed any light on the situation I had here? I checked the site again for the answer to a question that had arisen in my mind. If there were red-eyed vampires, could there be gold-eyed vampires - in the way that you got people with different coloured eyes in everyday life? Perhaps they were a different type of vampire; ones who worked differently and only killed people who needed taking out anyway. Perhaps Daniel knew what people's intentions were and could kill them before they did anyone harm? Where did that leave me? Did I need taking out? I'd never considered myself a threat to society. The thing was, that he'd told me all along that he was a killer. Was assassin a more legitimate way of saying vampire? He killed people but yet he'd sat on the floor of my bedroom and told me that he wanted the chance to love me. A vampire wanted to love me? My life had turned into an episode of _Vampire Nights_. Perhaps I should buy the DVDs…

I decided against contacting Fi-Saurus right now, but bookmarked the page. I'd keep an eye on what got added to the body of information. I shut down the computer and glanced at the clock, it was approaching midnight. I'd done a lot of reading and my head was alive with so many questions. I wandered around the house not able to settle and not able to get my heart rate to drop back down, either. My system was coursing with adrenaline and my head was pulling out everything that had gone on over the last few months. Whatever angle I approached it from my head reached the same conclusion. Contributors on the website had reported extreme evasiveness in those who they suspected were vampires. If Daniel was anything, he was textbook evasive.

I couldn't do more right now and I was too petrified to pick up the phone and call Daniel, I went to bed and tried to settle. Unsurprisingly sleep didn't come and I lay there hour after hour working my head and my heart into an ever bigger knot. As the clock ticked past 3.30am I admitted defeat and got back up. Anxiety was taking hold and I needed some air. It was a stupid thing to do off the back of a bottle of wine and absolutely no sleep, but I had the urge to get down to the beach. Sky and fresh air were what I needed right now, not four walls as I went slowly mad.

I pulled on sweatpants, a t-shirt and threw a hooded top over it. I went out into the dawn and ran straight into Charlie Swan, packing his fishing gear into the trunk of his car.

"You're up early." He said cheerfully. After what my head had been thinking about him last night, I was momentarily too stunned to reply.

"Ah…Yes. First day of vacation, I feel like going to the beach."

"You'll have it all to yourself."

"That's the idea." I smiled. "Get some peace and quiet; be at one with nature and all that stuff."

"Yeah, that's why I get out fishing as often as I can. See you later."

We said goodbye and Charlie pulled away. I waited until he was out of sight. I didn't want to be arrested for drunk driving right outside my own house.

I drove down the street and stopped at the intersection. I waited for the green light and had just started my left turn, when from nowhere a black car crossed my path against the lights. It took me a second to realise what I was seeing. It was a black Jaguar XF, there was a blonde-haired man at the wheel and as it pulled away I recognised the licence plate. It was Daniel!


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter Twenty One: Daniel**

I didn't know what the hell I was doing, but I followed his car northwards anyway. I kept a distance from him and then suddenly, without indicating, he made a right turn into the forest. I slowed as I reached the place and found that it was a simple, unmarked track. I took it. My heart thumped in my chest, I had no idea what I'd find at the end of this track. I'd driven this road hundreds of times and never even noticed this turning was here. Fear coated everything. Daniel had been close to me on countless occasions. He'd touched me, kissed me once and even shared a bed with me on occasions. All that mattered not one bit; because all of it had been replaced by one word: Vampire. I didn't know for sure if he was one, it was just a conclusion my head had arrived at, based on nothing more than a bottle of wine, a TV show and an Internet message-board. Some evidence! Hopefully, he'd laugh in my face with this one.

The track went on forever. There were no turnings and it was too narrow and too tightly bordered by trees for me to turn and head back. I had to drive to the end – wherever it was – Idaho at this rate. Eventually, I came out into a clearing and was stunned to find the most beautiful old house. I stopped the car whilst I took it in. The house was painted white and was three storeys high. Around the base of it ran a deep porch. It was elegant and quite the most beautiful house I'd ever seen. On the far side of it I saw the back of Daniel's car. There was every chance that he knew I was here already, so there seemed little point in backing out, so I parked up next to the Jaguar.

In the trees the birds were already in full voice and my feet made the only other sound as I walked up the steps to the front door. I hesitated, fearful of so many things. The last time I'd seen Daniel I'd told him to go and that I didn't want anything to do with him. I didn't know exactly what I was going to say, but at the very least I could give him an apology for not letting him explain. I knocked on the door.

In my head I counted. Ten seconds passed, fifteen but no answered. Perhaps he was in the shower and couldn't hear me? Perhaps he was in the barn to the side of the house? Or perhaps he knew I was here and just didn't walk to talk to me. Even though I didn't have an atom of evidence to support that theory, it felt like the truth. That must be why he wasn't answering the door and I turned to go. As I put my foot on the second step the door opened and I turned back around to see Daniel.

"Stephanie." He said simply.

"Hi. Could I…talk to you? Please?"

"Sure, come in." He opened the door wider and let me in.

I found myself in a light, open and airy lobby. Where the outside was very traditional, inside it was modern and trending towards the minimalist.

"Could I get you some coffee?" He asked.

This appeared to be a surprisingly hard question to answer. "Uhh…" I couldn't decide.

"Are you OK, you don't look so good?"

I shook my head. "I…I… didn't sleep."

"How about some herbal tea?"

"Tea would be good."

"Sit down; I'll be right back." He indicated to the living area and went off to the kitchen. I walked slowly into the living area and cast a glance around it. There were three large cream sofas arranged in a 'u' shape and over to one side, a grand piano on an elevated area with its lid raised. Along the far wall ran bookcases and the wooden floor was covered with a large modern rug. Here and there were dotted the occasional vase or clock, but there were no photographs, no personalisation that could give me any more indication of who Daniel was. The room was neat and ordered but not intimidatingly so. All things considered I felt relaxed here, despite the shouting and screaming that had set up in my head. Seeing Daniel again had set it off because I now saw what I'd been reading about on the website. I chose a sofa and sat down, but that didn't feel right. I got up and walked over to the piano, looking out of the windows to the forest beyond. The sky was lightening into a beautiful clear blue, holding the promise of a warm, sunny day ahead.

Apart from the ticking of clocks the house was silent and I assumed that Daniel was here alone. Looking around, I'd have never have put him down as someone who would have a house like this. I'd expected a smart apartment not something as spacious as this. This looked like a family home, but whose? He'd spoken of a brother who wasn't strictly speaking his brother, but who he thought of as such. Were there others… like him?

Footsteps on the wooden floor alerted me to his return. He came into the living room with a cup.

"Here, it's blackcurrant, I hope you like it."

"Thanks."

He placed the cup on the coffee table and sat down, indicating to the sofa opposite. "You _can_ sit." He said and gave a little smile.

I shook my head. "Not right now."

I could do with the drink, but I was fearful of being any closer to him than this. My tongue was sticking to the roof of my mouth.

"So, what can I do for you?" He seemed a little uneasy.

"I don't know exactly, but I think I owe you an apology."

"I can't imagine what you'd need to apologise for."

"For what I said the last time I saw you."

"You don't need to apologise for that. I heard what you said."

"I'm sorry I didn't give you the chance to explain." Did I want him to? My head couldn't decide between yes and no. Did I want him to confirm what I suspected? Perhaps he read the indecision in my face.

"Do you want me to explain?" He asked. "I don't want to cause any difficulties between you and Mike."

The mention of Mike confused me for a moment. "There is no me and Mike. Mike's with someone else." I stared at the crystal bowl on the coffee table, hesitant to meet his eye.

"I'm sorry."

"It's OK. I'm pretty screwed up anyhow." I shuddered against a spike of cold that went through me; the fear of him was back.

"Are you cold? Can I get you a sweater?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm fine." Nothing was further from the truth. I was absolutely not fine. I turned this way and that, reacting to the rising anxiety levels within me and I started to gasp for air. Daniel, clear that something was wrong, came towards me. The sight of him approaching me was enough to galvanise a decision in my head. Right now, he looked like what I suspected he was and he was coming for me! I started to back away and caught my heel on the piano stool. I felt myself fall, but the next moment I was being held by arms that steadied and righted me.

I screamed. I was prepared for him not to release me, to have to fight for my life. But he simply took his hands from me and walked away. He wasn't doing what he was supposed to do if he was a…. I couldn't even say the word in my head. I was sure in that moment that I'd been right, but now I wasn't so sure. Always so many questions and no god-damn answers!

That appeared to release the floodgate within.

"You see? That's what I want answers to! Things that don't make sense! I've been carrying all this around in my head for months and it's freaking me out!"

Daniel was stood back over by the coffee table. "I'm sorry for causing you distress. It was never my intention to hurt you. Seeing you like this makes me realise that I should never have intruded into your life." He sounded sad, defeated and very much like he was releasing me.

I didn't want to be released! "And why is that?" I snapped.

"I think you know why."

"I don't!" I had a suspicion, but I didn't _know_.

"You do, you've worked it out. You wouldn't be here if you hadn't."

"I haven't worked anything out; all I have is a big old mess in my head!"

"Tell me what you suspect?" He said quietly. "Say it out loud. No matter how bizarre you think it is; tell me what everything in your head is pointing to."

I shook my head, embarrassed. "No..."

"Just tell me."

I shook my head. "I can't say it." I could barely even think it.

"Why can't you say it?"

"Because, it changes everything!" I wailed. I grabbed handfuls of hair on my head and tears burst from my eyes. "I can't say it!" I stared up at the ceiling.

"Stephanie, I can't get you any closer to the line than this. One sentence and you're there. Just say it. Accuse me of it." His voice was as full of emotion as my eyes were full of tears.

But still the words wouldn't come; they were stuck in my throat and my mouth was as dry as a desert. I looked at him through eyes blurred with tears.

"Three words." He said gently. "That's all you need to…"

"You're a vampire!" I blurted out, covering my hand with my mouth as if something had escaped from it that I hadn't wanted to.

I saw his eyes close and a small furrow appear between his eyebrows. He opened them again slowly and looked at me with eyes of the brightest gold.

"Yes."

Everything went black.


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter Twenty Two: Line**

When I came round, I was lying on the sofa with my feet resting on the arm. I must have fainted. There was a brief moment of confusion as to why, and then one word filled my mind that explained everything: Vampire. Daniel was a vampire and I was in a vampire's house! But yet here I was; still breathing, still living and still with a cooling cup of blackcurrant tea on the table beside me. Nothing about this seemed to compute. Even the revelation of that word didn't answer all my questions and only served to kick up more.

I turned my head slowly and found him. He was on the far side of the room stood by the rear windows which ran from floor to ceiling. His eyes were averted and there was an expression of sadness on his face. I looked at him for a few seconds, marvelling just how incredibly still he was. I brought my feet off the arm and swivelled round into a sitting position. My breathing was surprisingly regular, as I weighed up how it felt to be the other side of the line and to know what the secret was.

I was numb. I couldn't deny that a part of me wanted to run screaming from the house, pack my things and drive to the furthest point of the continent. But a greater, more rational part was curious to know how I'd managed to spend the last nine months in the company of a vampire and was still not dead. So, I understood that the next words out of my mouth would be important. He'd acknowledged something so desperately private to me that I couldn't leave without knowing more. Not now, not after all I'd been though. I hesitantly lifted the tea to my lips, took a sip and returned it to the table. He still wasn't looking at me; his gaze was fixed on the floor a couple of feet from where I sat.

"I know you won't hurt me." I said, trying to be reassuring.

His eyes found mine. "I can't guarantee that I won't."

"But you haven't." I encouraged, sensing his despondency.

"There's always a chance that I will. I'm sort of new at this."

"Have you been a… vampire long?"

"Four years this September."

"And you're still learning how to be one?"

"No, I'm learning how to be this type of one."

"There are different types?"

He gave a wry smile. "Until this time last year, I didn't know there was any other type of vampire."

"And what you are is different?"

He nodded. "Yes."

"How?"

"Look, before we go any further, I need to know what your intentions are; because I can't allow the safety of my family to be compromised. I need to know whether you're staying or leaving. Sorry to give you an ultimatum, but I need to know which side of the line you want to be on. "

Regardless of what I chose here, I would always know that there were vampires living among us. So this was the trap: I couldn't ever go back. Choose to remain on his side of the line? I knew nothing about him.

"Can I ask one question?" I stood up and the furrow between his brows appeared again, he wasn't sure what I was doing.

"Yes."

"Is your name really Daniel Mitchell?"

"I was born Daniel James Mitchell, but I use another one now."

"And what's that?"

"I'm sorry. To protect my family that's a name I can only share when you've made the decision to… what're you doing?" His eyes stared at me in alarm as I walked over to him.

"I'm crossing the line. "

"Stephanie…" His voice was full of warning. "You can't just…"

"Can't just what?" I stopped about seven feet from him. "You asked me what my intention was, so I'm illustrating it. This is me crossing the line. I don't know whereabouts on the floor it is, but I must've crossed it by now, because I'm nearly at you."

"But I'm a vampire."

"And I'm a school teacher, but I'm sure we can work around my crazy obsession with the Medieval."

"This is not a joke." He was reproachful.

"I'm not joking." I planted my feet, let my hands hang by my sides and looked him squarely in the face. "I know you think that I don't know you well enough to make a decision; but let me ask this: Do you know _me_ well enough to make a decision?"

"I know more about you, than you do about me."

"Really? From everything that you know; tell me how I react if you throw me into a difficult situation?"

He was silent for a few seconds. "I don't know." He admitted ruefully.

"I study, I work hard, I apply myself to the task and I see no reason to deviate from that right now. You're a vampire, I know that now. But I also know, that not once in the nine months that we've known each other, have you ever given me a reason to think that you would kill me. True, I've felt unsettled around you, but you thrill me more than scare me."

"You were subconsciously reacting to what I am. It was your instincts that were telling you to run."

"And I am running; to you." He looked in pain and a chill went through me. Maybe I'd said too much last Sunday and he'd given up on me. "Am I too late?" I asked anxiously.

"I didn't think you wanted me anymore."

I sighed. "I was wrong, I do want you. I was trying to protect myself because I couldn't deal with thinking that you were dead."

"To some people I am dead. I'm sorry about that night in your room. That was a really bad weekend." His voice was full of emotion and he scraped his fingers through his hair.

"Yes." I agreed. There was a moment's silence where we simply looked at each other.

"So even though you know nothing about me, you're crossing the line?"

"Even though you know nothing about _me_, yes; I'm crossing the line."

"Why?" He shook his head, incredulous.

I gave a shrug. "I'm twenty seven and nobody ever made me feel like you do."

"That really isn't…"

"A good basis for a relationship? Did I mention I work hard?" I fixed my gaze on him. "I want this and if I'm not mistaken, you said that you wanted the chance to love me. Well, here I am. I'm giving you that chance."

"For… For real?"

"For real." An invisible guard that Daniel had up slipped away and I didn't see a vampire, I saw only a man who wanted to be loved and one that I couldn't stay apart from any longer. I completed my walk over to him and as I did so, he held out his hands. I went to take them.

"I'm going to feel different. Hard."

"And cold." I said, I knew that already. He nodded. I took hold of his outstretched hands. They felt like the polished granite of my kitchen counters. But unlike those, where you could feel the edges of the crystals, his skin was flawlessly smooth.

"I'd really love to hold you." He whispered.

"I wish you could."

"I could do."

"I didn't think you were able to do that." I whispered back.

"I couldn't have held you before; you would've noticed that I was different. Now I can, but there are risks in you being so close."

"I'll chance it." I smiled and he did too, the thrill of it lit me up inside and I knew, for sure that I was where I was meant to be. I loved him. But he was still hesitant and I understood that more might be going on here than the fear that he might kill me. "You've not done this in a while, have you?"

"No and not as a vampire." He let go of my hands and took a step forward. His proximity made my heart race and he stepped back again. I guessed what the problem was. "Just give me a minute." He said and I took deep breaths to try and calm myself. He tried again, hesitantly reaching out to circle my waist with one arm and the other he placed around my shoulders. His arms closed around me and gently, as if I were a porcelain doll; he drew me to him and I placed my head against his chest. "I'm not hurting you am I?" His voiced sounded a little muffled from above my head.

"No. You can hold me a little tighter." He held me a little closer and I wriggled my right arm out and put it around his waist. I rested my left hand on his chest next to my face. We didn't speak. His arms held me securely and I ran my hand up and down his back. There was perfect silence and I revelled in how beautiful a simple embrace could be.

It was a little while before I realised what was missing. "I can't hear your heartbeat."

"I don't have a heartbeat." I gently pulled away from him to look up. "Vampire, remember?"

"How do you…?"

"Exist? I don't know. It's whatever the conversion process does."

My head was full of questions. "So is it true what I was reading, that vampires are immortal?"

"Yes."

"But you said you're 32?"

"I am, but I was changed at 28, so I'll stay like this forever." There was a look I couldn't read in his eyes. Just then my stomach gurgled and I blushed with embarrassment. Daniel stepped several paces away from me.

"What?" I asked anxiously. He looked uneasy and he ran his fingers through his hair. "What's the matter?" What've I done?

"This is where the difficulties lie, in the very simplest of things." He said. His face was now apologetic. "You blushed."

I raised my hand to my cheek; I could feel the heat in it. "Yes."

"What causes a blush?"

I whispered the word. "Blood?"

He nodded. "As I said, I'm new to this. It's a moment by moment struggle to keep my vampire side under control."

I covered my cheeks with my hands and realised with some gall that this wasn't going to be as easy as I'd thought it would be. My idea was just not to bleed around him. I didn't know that he'd have trouble with my blood while it was still in my body. I couldn't simply stop blushing. A pricking over my nose announced the onset of tears and I rubbed by eyebrows to hide my growing upset.

Suddenly he was back in front of me, gently pulling my hand away from my face and me back to him. "I'm sorry; this isn't going to be easy."

"How are you doing this?"

"I'm not breathing."

I gave a plaintive wail. "I have so much to learn."

"Well, how about I make that rumbly stomach of yours some breakfast and we can talk about things? I'll give you that full explanation you were after."

"That would be good." A thought occurred to me about what he might have for breakfast. "What about your breakfast?"

He smiled. "I've… eaten. Or rather, drunk."

"Oh, OK."

There was silence between us for a moment or two and then his eyes narrowed. "Aren't you going to ask what I've drunk? After all, I did say that I'm a different type of vampire."

"Um… Volunteer donations?" I conjured up an image of his own private blood bank.

He laughed. "No. We couldn't do this if I were still a traditional vampire. My eyes would be red for one thing and as you can see they're not." I looked up and lost myself in them.

"So why are they gold?"

"We drink animal blood, but not the blood of domestic cats. I want to tell you that right now." The memory of Lyra's mangled body came to mind and I pinched the bridge of my nose against the tears. Daniel stroked my hair. "I am so sorry about that." He said gently. "But we would never do such a thing. That was vindictiveness in the extreme."

"Do you know who did it?" I whispered.

"Yes, but now's not the time to explain that. You need some breakfast." He put his arm around me and we walked into the kitchen.

"So what animals do you?" I was unsure of how to describe it.

"Hunt. We use the phrase hunting. We hunt elk, deer, bears, mountain lions, that kind of thing. We need far more blood than you could ever get in a pet cat."

"Oh… And that makes you safe around me does it?" I sat down in chair at the kitchen table.

"Not really, I'll never be entirely safe. I will always want human blood and it's always a battle that will rage within me. You need to know that."

"OK. Even my blood?"

"Even your blood. Loving you doesn't make me immune to you. But the more time we spent together, the more I'll get used to you and become less sensitive to it."

"Really?"

"That's the theory. It's worked for the others."

"The _others_?" My heartbeat quickened again. "There are more vampires here?"

"Not right now, but yes; there are more of us."

"How many?"

"There are two more in the area right now, but the rest of my family is spread far and wide. Twelve of us are vampires."

"Twelve of _us_? You mean there are other things in your family besides vampires?"

He grinned. "Yeah, ever heard of _humans_?" I rolled my eyes at my stupidity. "Let me make you some breakfast."

I was sat at a big white table and Daniel brought over a bagel, bacon and some cream cheese.

"My favourite." I acknowledged.

"I know."

"So what else do you know about me?"

"Just the regular stuff; passport number, social security."

"What?"

He looked a little rueful. "Sorry, necessary things we need to know."

"Why?"

"In case of accidents."

I furrowed my brow. "Sorry, I don't follow?"

"It's in case I did anything to you, we need to make sure that nobody starts asking questions."

"Oh." I replied quietly. "'Cause death by vampire attack isn't something you want appearing on a death certificate, right?"

"No, but that's not the only reason. A vampire attack doesn't always end in outright death."

"Sometimes a new vampire gets created?" I finished.

"Yes."

"That's what happened to you?"

"Yes." He seemed suddenly far away and in great pain. I reached across the table and place my hand over his. He looked as if he were the one that was made of porcelain, not me.

"Tell me about it."

"Are you sure?" I nodded. "OK." He pushed the bagel towards me. "Eat."

I assembled it while he watched, coating both sides with cheese and layering the bacon on top. I sandwiched it together and took a bite.

"A bite is where all this started, on Madison's sixth birthday. I told you that Helen had organised a party that I wasn't invited to. I was angry and took myself off to the Filmore to see a band. As I went back to my apartment afterwards, I took a short cut. That wasn't one of my better decisions." His face darkened and I saw pain in it. "I ran into Diego."

"Diego?"

"That's the name of the vampire who created me. He's also the ring leader of the most depraved subsection of the San Francisco coven." The upset in him was almost tangible. "This?" He gestured to the room at large. "This is heaven and is the reason why I will fight with everything I am to protect this family; _my _family." I didn't doubt him for a second.

"Did Diego hurt you?" I offered quietly, all thoughts of eating now driven from my mind.

"Not as you understand the word. I can't feel physical pain. But for two and a half years I was the lowest of the low there. Not only did I get the shittiest jobs, but I was Diego's… plaything." He stared at the table, his fingers tracing a ring in the wood. "Diego and his group run dens that specialise in every kind of debauchery you could possibly imagine and more. Diego keeps a 'pet' – I was that pet. It was my role to… take part in what went on. Diego liked to watch..." I put my bagel down and reached across the table to cup his hand with mine. "Although they could never hurt me, vampires have perfect memories. We can recall everything in perfect detail from the moment we wake up as newborns. So all that stuff he made me do…" He tapped his head. "Is in here. I get to keep that, for eternity."

He slumped back in the chair and looked at me. "I was just a regular guy. I grew up in Menlo Park south of the city and I lived a pretty sheltered life. I wanted nothing more out of it than a decent job, a wife to love and hopefully children one day. I had all those things; for a while, and then it was all taken from me. Helen kicked me out of her and Madison's lives and Diego ripped me out of what was left. I'm damaged goods, so I won't take it personally, if you decide you'd rather not be around someone who has experienced the very worst of the vampire world."

"But you're not there anymore; you're here. Perhaps I can help you create some new memories, some nice ones."

"You've already given me some nice memories, one in particular." There was a sudden impish grin on his face. "My family are helping too. Being here is…. Well, like I said; heaven."

"So how come you're here and not still in San Francisco?"

"That tale starts with another bite. Speaking of bites, you need to eat that." He pointed to my barely-eaten bagel. "Can I make you some coffee?"

I nodded.

Daniel got up from the table and busied himself putting coffee on. As he opened cupboard doors, I saw stacks and stacks of crockery and cookware. This didn't look like a kitchen that a vampire would have, surely you didn't need serving dishes for blood? To be honest, I was rather surprised they had bagels. "So do other humans live here?" I asked

"Not all the time, they come and go like the rest of the family."

"So how big is your family? You said there are twelve vampires."

"There are currently seventeen of us. Well, seventeen we consider part of our family, even if some aren't active members." He looked at me. "It's complicated." He sighed. "Divorce is a messy business."

"You mean Helen and Madison?"

He shook his head. "No. I am hoping to find a way to include Madison in things. If anything should happen to Helen, I wouldn't want Madison to end up with Helen's family and neither would she. Helen and her father don't see eye to eye. Actually, they hate each other's guts."

"So to Helen and Madison and the rest of your family, you just disappeared?"

"Yes. I'm still listed as a missing person. If you check those lists and not the most wanted ones." He grinned as he brought over my coffee. "You'll find me."

I finished up my bagel. "You were going to tell me how you got here." I reminded him.

"Yes, the second life-changing bite, except this time I was the one giving it."

"What happened?"

"It was just an ordinary night, I was out hunting."

"By that hunting you mean…"

"Killing people, yes."

"How… how often did you…?"

"In the beginning it's every couple of days, but as you settle down, the interval extends and you can go indefinitely. But, for the most part, a vampire will hunt every couple of weeks."

"And you?"

"Things are different for me right now. Being around you means that I have to hunt more frequently, to minimise the possibility of…"

"Me being lunch?"

He smiled and raised his eyebrows. "Yeah." He gave an embarrassed laugh. "Talking about this with you is a little surreal. Are you OK with it?"

"I'm riveted, go on."

"So, I was hunting and I caught up with a girl in an alleyway. I knew right away there was something different. Her scent was not human, but not pure vampire either. She was fast, but not fast enough to outrun me. I caught her and bit her." He pulled a face. "She didn't taste nice at all." He laughed. "Repulsive. Anyway, she told me that she was a hybrid; half vampire and half human."

"Such things exist?"

"They do, but she's very rare; there are only a few in the world."

"How many's a few?"

"We're aware of five. Anyway, the Police disturbed me; they were doing a routine patrol, so I left her. Traditional vampires live very differently to the way we do here. This is a family, but the San Francisco community is a coven ruled by fear by a vampire called Carlo; although it's his wife Veronica who has the real power. You wouldn't be wrong in thinking that he was the Godfather and he controlled a mafia-like cell. He had his favourites like Diego, his minions and right at the bottom of the heap was me. I was the fetch and carry guy. I was at his beck and call night and day."

"Did you ever sleep?"

"Vampires don't sleep."

"What, ever?"

"No."

"You're awake all the time? So when you stayed with me you really did…"

"Lie awake watching you sleep, yes. It was lovely, some nice memories there."

"So you never sleep, OK." I added that to my database of knowledge about him.

He smiled and continued. "So if Carlo wanted something or someone at four in the morning, it was my job to get it or them. Carlo insisted on knowing everything, you didn't keep things from him; you learned very quickly that that wasn't in your best interests. So when I came across this odd girl, I told him. Carlo naturally wanted her, so I was despatched to hunt her down and bring her in. In the meantime, Carlo decided that he'd offer her as a gift to a visiting dignitary; someone who at the time was styling himself as the vampire king."

I scoffed. "The vampire king?"

He waved his hand in dismissal. "Don't go there, that was a whole other bucket of weird. Anyhow, I found her in a hotel and brought her in. What we didn't know was that this girl had a family that were searching for her. Vampire king turns up to claim his gift, just as vampire Dad turns up to rescue his daughter." Daniel's face softened. "On the way down to Carlo's she told me all about this family. Up until that point I was leading a miserable existence, convinced that I would never again have anything that I could call a normal life. She's a talented girl; she has the gift of allowing people to see her thoughts. She showed me this house, the people in it and something that I had not come across in the vampire world: Love." His voice was almost inaudible. "They loved and cared for each other. She'd been born into this family and she'd never known anything other than the love of parents, aunts, uncles and even grandparents. This family were vampires and yet they were living a very human existence. I changed my mind about taking her in and decided to help her get away. But Carlo turned up and she ended up in his clutches. As I said, her Dad and some of the family came to rescue her. I tried to do what I could, but in the middle of the rescue attempt I lost my head and her Dad fixed it back on, just like he did last week when that vampire in the forest ripped mine off again."

"You can put your head back on?"

"Yes." He laughed. I'll tell you about that part another time. They rescued her took me with them. I will be eternally grateful to her parents for taking me in. For giving me a home here; a family, clothes, some dignity, the confidence to start working again and also giving me hope, that one day, I might be able to see Madison again. They've given me everything and they require nothing of me in return. The pair of them are beyond generous." He closed his eyes

"They sound like nice people."

"They are. Could I introduce you to them?"

My breath caught in my throat. "They're the two that are here?"

"Yes, they're a couple of miles away right now, but they'll come over if I call. They'd love to meet you."

"But they're vampires, will I be safe?"

Daniel laughed. "You'll be much safer around them than you will me. Can I call them?"

I nodded. "OK." I was nervous and there was a fluttering in my stomach.

Daniel pulled out his phone and sent a text message. It was answered a few seconds later. "They're on their way. Shall we go through to the living room?"

I followed Daniel back through and as we did so I heard a car outside. Through a window I saw the distinctive sight of a Police cruiser pulling to a stop. I recognised the driver.

"Oh my God; Chief Swan!" My hand flew to my mouth as I realised that he had no idea what Daniel was and that this was a house full of vampires.

"It's OK;" Daniel said cheerfully, "It's just Charlie."

"But he doesn't _know_." I heard his feet on the steps outside and held my breath for the knock, but there wasn't one, he walked straight in.

"Morning Daniel."

"Morning Charlie."

Charlie looked at me. "Ah, you're here." He grinned. "You look a bit shocked."

"Were you looking for me?" I said overly-brightly.

He shook his head. "No, I've been summoned." He grinned at Daniel. "I wasn't destined to fish in peace this morning, got a text from Bella. She told me to come over right away, it's urgent apparently."

"Bella? Your daughter?" I queried.

"Yes, she lives here."

"Hi Dad."

The woman's voice behind me made me freeze, but Charlie and Daniel were smiling.

"Stephanie?" Daniel gestured behind me. Please may I introduce the vampires who saved my life? This is Edward and Bella Cullen."

I still didn't move, so Daniel guided me round to face them. As I did so my eyes shot wide open, as in front of me stood Anthony and Marie.

"Hello Stephanie." Said Anthony, or should I say Edward. "I'm sorry for the deception, it was necessary. But I'm glad we can finally meet properly. Welcome to our home." He stepped forward, held out his hand and I shook it. It was equally as hard and cold as Daniel's had been. "We've been doing our best to try and protect you and I sincerely apologise that we weren't better able to. We didn't know until recently just exactly what we were up against."

Bella stepped forward. "I'm sorry that my shield couldn't do what we hoped it would. I did my best, but it wasn't good enough. I'm so sorry."

My heart went out to her. "Thank you for doing what you could."

She smiled apologetically. "When we meet, us girls in the family tend to kiss one another. Do you mind?" She was a vampire, how could I refuse her? She leant forward and gave me a cold kiss on each cheek. She placed her hands on my arms. "I know it's a shock, it was for me when I discovered what Edward was. The best piece of advice I can give you, is to keep asking questions."

There was one question I wanted an answer to. "So your daughter Renesmee is the hybrid?"

"She is," smiled Bella.

"But she was running about in San Francisco last summer?"

"Yes."

"But she's twenty months old?"

There was a chuckle from Charlie and Daniel, Edward and Bella smiled.

"Where the hell do you start with Renesmee?" Charlie sighed.

"I think it might be easier if I show Stephanie our latest family picture." Edward walked off and returned a minute later with a framed photograph. He stood beside Bella and put his arm around her. "This is our daughter. Deception has once again been necessary, but hopefully, it will make a few things a little clearer." He turned the picture around and there, stood between Edward and Bella was…

"_Ness?_" I was stunned. "She's your _daughter?_"

"Yes, not my cousin," Edward explained. "Masen is my previous name, just as Daniel's previous name is Mitchell. Vanessa Masen is really Renesmee Cullen; but to everyone, she's just Ness."

"But she's eighteen?" I said, looking at the picture of her in her graduation gown stood between her parents.

"Actually, she's only seven," said Bella. "She was full grown at six years and four months. She won't change from now on."

My head was struggling to keep up.

"He's here." Edward suddenly said to Bella and she walked out to the kitchen. Edward looked at me. "I know there's a lot to take in, but Daniel will explain everything. Unfortunately, we have to go now. Charlie?" Edward turned to his father in law. "We need to introduce you to somebody. Actually, he's asked to be introduced to you." Bella walked back through from the kitchen, followed by a tall, slim guy with sparkling blue eyes and light brown hair.

"Dad?" She said. "This is Kael; he'd like to speak to you."

Kael? So this was Heather's father, the angel? I stared at him as Charlie walked forward and shook the angel's hand.

"Not a vampire then?" Replied Charlie.

"No." Replied Kael, his manner was friendly.

"Makes a change." Said Charlie good-humouredly. Charlie, Bella and Kael walked back into the kitchen. I became aware of Edward looking at me.

"I know you know." He said gently and I nodded that I did. "He's here to explain it. Bella and I will see you both later."

As Edward, followed the others, Daniel placed his hands on my upper arms.

"It's not just you who'll be getting a shock today." He said quietly. "The reason we didn't know exactly what we were dealing with is that Angels don't smell."

"What?" A bubble of laughter accidentally escaped through my lips.

Daniel looked amused. "It's funny now, but it's been driving us insane for months, how someone could get in and out of your life without us picking up any scent. Vampires mostly track by scent, but we had nothing to go on. Kael can also punch right through Bella's shield. She's powerless against him. But him realising that hurting you was potentially hurting his own daughter, brought everything to a stop."

"I'm glad."

He turned me to face him. "So, how are you doing with this?"

"I'm OK."

"Coping with it? You don't want to run off screaming yet?"

"No, although I do feel like I need to write this all down, to try and make a little more sense of it. So, Bella married a vampire?"

"Yes."

"Was she a vampire when she married Edward?"

"No."

"And they had a baby?"

"Yes."

"But Bella's a vampire now?"

"Yes, giving birth to Ness nearly killed Bella. It was the only way to save her."

"And Renesmee grew up really quickly?"

"Yes. Just call her Ness whichever side of the line you're on, she likes it like that. She only gets called Renesmee when she's done something wrong." Daniel snickered.

"And Charlie's her real grandfather?"

"Yes, that's why she's got his eyes. Does that explain things?"

"Yes. So where do you fit in?"

"I know I look older than them, but I consider Edward and Bella as my adoptive parents. Ness has adopted me as her big brother, so I consider her my sister." I was going to ask another question, but I gave a huge involuntary yawn as my sleepless night suddenly caught up with me. "I think you need to sleep before I tell you more."

"What time is it now?"

"It's coming up to 6am."

"I've been awake for twenty four hours. I should get some sleep. You won't disappear while I'm gone will you?"

"No, I'll come with you if you like."

"You will?"

"Yes, or you can sleep here. There's only me in the house, Edward and Bella have their own place. There are plenty of beds."

"For vampires who don't sleep?"

"Vampires want beds for things other than sleep." He said with a grin.

"So I could stay here?"

"Yes, pick a room." He gestured up the sweeping staircase.

"No, I'd better go back, shower and change."

"Give me your keys, I'll go over and get you a set of clothes while you're asleep if you like?"

"You would? OK then. Can I… sleep in your room?" I asked hesitantly.

"Sure."

I followed Daniel to the top of the three storey house and into a room that was dominated by a huge black wrought-iron bed. One entire wall was glass and commanded a stunning view of the forest outside. Daniel flicked a switch and blinds descended from the ceiling, darkening the room.

"When you're ready, there's a control box by the bed, just switch it to the right and they'll tilt closed. You won't know it's daylight out there. I'll go and get you some fresh clothes." I handed him my keys. "Perhaps, when you wake I can tell you a little more about me?"

"I'd like that. What will you do while I'm asleep?"

"After I've gotten your stuff, I'll go and hunt and then work for a while. I really do work on computer systems." He smiled. "I work freelance; writing software, designing databases, building websites, you name it, I do it. Sorry that it's not more glamorous, but when you've been through what I've been through; being able to do something constructive with your time is bliss."

"It sounds so normal."

"Believe me, normal is good. Anyway, you get some sleep, this place is beautifully quiet."

"OK."

With a little more confidence than his first try, Daniel folded me carefully into his arms and held me. I rested against him and decided that yes, in spite of everything that had happened over the last nine months, he had indeed been worth it.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter Twenty Three: Night in the Forest**

I woke in pitch dark and fumbled for the remote, turning it to allow in shafts of golden light. I blinked against it. I checked the clock, it had gone nine o'clock, I'd been asleep for well over twelve hours! On a chest of drawers to the side of me I recognised my clean clothes. Beside them, Daniel had also thoughtfully brought my wash bag, my hairdryer and there were a stack of towels too. I got out of bed grabbed the things and went in search of a bathroom. I found one a few doors down, set the shower going and freshened up under a stream of warm water.

When I arrived back, there was a fresh cup of coffee on the dressing table. I sipped it gratefully and sat down to comb through my hair.

"Good evening." Said a voice that made me smile. I turned to see Daniel leaning on the door post. "May I come in?"

"Sure. Thanks getting my stuff and for the coffee."

"You're welcome." He said down on the bed. "Feeling better?"

"Yes, I can't believe how long I slept."

"You needed it."

"I have a lot more questions." While I'd been in the shower a great many had come to mind.

He smiled. "I don't doubt it. I'll see you downstairs in a little while."

Washed, dressed and supplied with more coffee and another bagel; Daniel and I left the house with the last golden rays of what must have been a glorious summer's day.

"I think I should start by showing you why I can't be in public on a sunny day." He walked into a patch of sunlight and I gasped, as his face refracted a million tiny rainbow sparkles. "You see? People would notice someone doing this." I couldn't reply, I was awestruck by how beautiful he was and I didn't even think it was possible for him to be even more so. I joined him in the circle of sun and reached up to touch his cheek. He felt just as hard and cold as before, but close up his skin looked as if it were made of diamonds.

"Amazing." I breathed. He covered my hand lightly with his own, but mine did not stop moving. My fingers crossed to touch his lips; there had been another question that had sprung to mind whilst I was in the shower. I'd been thinking about Edward and Bella and how a vampire and a human had managed to conduct a relationship. "Is it possible for us to kiss?" I asked quietly.

"Technically, yes; but you need to be careful of my teeth."

"Why?"

"They're razor sharp and coated in venom." His expression was serious. "You mustn't come into contact with my teeth."

"But we can kiss?"

"_Technically._" He said again. There was something about the way he said that. The pained expression was back on his face. So it was possible for us to kiss, but something was stopping him. I tried to see things from his perspective. He was going to kiss someone who part of him wanted to kill. Ah, I got it.

"You'd find it hard to kiss me?"

"Yes." He admitted. "I'm not sure I trust myself. The last time I even thought of trying my venom started to flow and it was all I could to resist you."

"That night at the Newton's?" He nodded. An idea suggested itself to me. "What if I'm the one doing the kissing?" I asked. "What if you're the one standing still and holding your breath and I'm the one moving my lips?"

"That could work." He whispered.

I'd make it work! I would find a way to kiss him, but I stopped short of adding '_even if it kills me'_ to the end of my sentence. Somehow that was a phrase too close for comfort. Despite him feeling like he was made of stone, he had a softness about him that overrode every impassioned plea of reason in my head. Reason told me he was a killer; but my heart told me that he was just a man looking for love and that I wanted to be the woman who loved him.

I let myself be drawn in to the sight of his lips. There wasn't even a hint of movement from him as I gently pressed mine to his. I might as well have been kissing a statue. But within a second or two it was like I was on fire! A hunger for him tore through me and I was unable to stop from trying to weld myself to him. I kissed him in absolute desperation, this was desire of a magnitude I had never before experienced and my body responded as it felt commanded. My arms clawing at him and I felt angry that I didn't have and extra pair of hands to remove my clothes. Want him? Oh I was far beyond that now; this was in the realm of _need!_

But suddenly I was away from him and Daniel was staring at me with wild eyes as I was held by an invisible force. I looked down to see hands on my shoulders. I strained against them, trying to get back to Daniel, the desire for him still burning on my lips.

"Careful." It was Edward who held me. "That was too much for him. Daniel?"

"It's OK, it's easing." The statue came to life and the wildness gently faded from him. "That was a close one." He closed his eyes and the relief was palpable.

"It's a learning process, for both of you." Edward peered over my shoulder. "I'm sorry to drag you away, but you were only a second from Daniel losing control." I touched my own lips, confused as to what had affected me so profoundly. "It's a chemical that coats our lips." Edward explained, answering my question. "The first time you experience it, you get it at its most potent. It's part of the arsenal of weapons at a vampire's disposal."

"That's a weapon?" I asked.

"Yes. One designed to incapacitate you."

"_And get me out of my clothes."_ I thought.

"That too." He added, seeming to answer my silent question. "Slightly unnecessary if you ask me. I'll leave you now; Daniel's got himself back under control."

"Thanks Edward." Daniel replied. "Another one I owe you for."

"You don't owe me anything; you know that's not how it works." Daniel nodded and Edward gently pushed me back towards Daniel. "Try again. This time it'll be easier to rein it in and it'll get even easier the more you practice. See you later." And he vanished in an instant. I stared in disbelief, feeling only the breeze of his departure on my face.

"Wow." I said softly. "Can you do that?"

"Sure." He replied and promptly vanished leaving me alone in the glade. I laughed, not able to process things. Daniel appeared back from nowhere in front of me, causing me to gasp with shock. There was amusement, mischief even in his eyes. He came close and laced his fingers through mine. The cold was less of a shock now. I gazed at him, absolutely lost in wonder for a moment until my eyes found his lips and I started to crave more of that chemical. Almost from instinct I leaned into him, allowing his scent to fill my lungs, his beauty to fill my sight and as if I was under the influence of the most suggestive drug on the planet, I had an overwhelming desire to get naked and let him have me. The potency of it shocked me and I felt the heat of a blush rise in my cheeks. Daniel stepped away.

"Oh _no!_" I sighed and turned away, embarrassed that I couldn't control myself.

"Don't feel bad. This is going to take practice. Besides, blushes fade after a minute or so." Daniel stood behind me, placed his arms around me and pulled me back into his chest. As he did so, his hand found a gap between the top of my jeans and my t-shirt. Cold hand met warm skin and I reacted exactly as I always did: I jumped in shock and laughed hysterically.

"Sorry, sorry!" I giggled. I turned back to him and held my arms out in explanation. "You have cold hands."

Daniel rolled his eyes in amusement. "Tell me something I don't know." I saw the glint in his eye a fraction before another shock of cold hit my stomach, sending me into more paroxysms of laughter. He did it again.

"Stop it!" I laughed, pulling down my t-shirt.

"No, I like hearing you laugh, it makes me happy."

"You can make me laugh without doing that. That's unfair!"

He wrapped his arms around me. My gaze settled on his lips and I stretched upwards to try to kiss him again. He bent his head to meet me and again our mouths met. This time I was ready for the effect and as it hit I kept myself better in check. But I couldn't fail to respond to the feelings coursing within me and I kissed him with more force than perhaps was wise. But Daniel was kissing me too, his lips moving against mine and his hand slid upwards to gently support my neck.

We stayed like that for ages and we only broke apart when I realised that my lips were turning numb.

He ran his thumb across them and smiled. "Your lips are a little swollen."

"I'm not surprised." I tried to say, the feeling was very much like a fading shot of novocaine. I chuckled. I lifted my fingers to my lips and felt how enlarged they were. "Some women pay good money for lips like these."

"True."

"I think they need kissing better."

"I think they need a rest." He grinned. "What say we go for a run?"

"A run?" I scoffed. "I don't think I could keep up with you."

"Well, I'll do the running; you can ride on my back."

He lifted me onto his back and walked into the forest. I wrapped my arms around his neck and rested my face against the side of his head. His walk became a jog and then he broke into a run. It was amazing, he hardly jostled me at all and he ran smoothly through the trees, curving around them as if he could almost sense their presence not just see them. At one point I realised that there was no way a normal human being could run this fast and was just about to say so, when the landscape around me disappeared in a blur and I would have been thrown off his back from the acceleration, had he not grasped my arms to hold me. The only part of my field of vision that wasn't blurry was the bit right in front of me and even that was moving toward me at a faster rate than was comfortable. On and on he ran, up a steep slope, never breaking his stride until we came out of the trees and onto a ledge. He came to an abrupt halt and took his hands away from my arms.

"You can get down now." He said, but I couldn't move from shock. I wasn't aware I'd stopped breathing until my system, becoming oxygen deprived make me gasp in a huge breath of air. Daniel turned his face and kissed my cheek. "Sorry if I scared you."

"I'm not scared." I said, managing to find my voice. "Just stunned." I slid, rather ungracefully off his back and leant forward, resting my hands on my thighs to get my breath back. When I looked up again, Daniel was standing on the edge and looking out at the panorama of Olympic National Park below us.

"This is one of my favourite places." He said, sitting down and dangling his feet over the side of the ledge. I sat down beside him. He put his arm around me and pulled me into his side. He was exactly like reclining against a wall. "I love the view from here." It was stunning, I couldn't disagree with that. "I hope this isn't too much for you." He said.

"No." I thought of some more questions to ask him. "You said there are twelve vampires in your family; can you tell me more about them?"

"Sure. So you know now that as well as traditional vampires there are those who hunt animals, not humans. We're very much in the minority. As well as our family, there is one other family in Alaska that we class as cousins and a facility our family runs in Italy to help other vampires who want to make the switch. Other than that, we're not aware of any others who choose to live this way. It's is a choice we make; it's not something that comes naturally. The desire for human blood is always there, it's about mastering it. Animal blood has benefits in that it calms us, allows us to live together and alongside humans. But it has its downsides. It's not as potent as human blood so we're not as physically strong as traditional vampires."

"So how did your family get started?"

"It started in the 1640s in England when a man by the name of Carlisle Cullen was changed into a vampire."

"So Edward's whole family are…?"

"Vampires, yes."

"And they were all at Forks High? And Dr Cullen worked at the hospital?"

"Yes." He smiled.

"And nobody _guessed?_" I was incredulous.

"Nobody until Bella Swan came along. People keep away from what they instinctively fear. I know you felt that fear around me, Edward told me."

"Yeah, about that, can Edward read minds?"

"Yes."

"Oh…" I suddenly realised the implications of that.

"He's very discreet and for the most part he blocks his family out. Apart from Ness, who he can't block out." Daniel chuckled.

"Why?"

"He doesn't know, but she's his daughter, so there must be something going on in her DNA that links them."

"So there's Carlisle and he's… wow, nearly 400 years old?"

"Yes, he's the reason we're all here. He was the one who decided he didn't want to kill people and almost by accident discovered that he could survive on animal blood. He was alone until 1918 when he was working in a hospital in Chicago. It was during the height of the Spanish Flu epidemic and Edward was dying. Carlisle bit him and changed him into a vampire. I have absolutely no idea how Carlisle managed to stop. I don't think I have the strength."

"So it's more than just biting?"

"Yes, we're at our least human at that moment. You can never be around me when I hunt," he paused, "because I would kill you." His face was tense; I didn't want him to be sad.

"Tell me about the rest of them." I said, trying to distract him.

"Carlisle transformed Esmé in 1921; again she was close to death. They married in 1923. Carlisle discovered Rosalie close to death in 1933 and transformed her. Emmett nearly lost his life to a bear attack in 1935. Rosalie was out hunting, saw him and brought him all the way back to Carlisle, who transformed him. That's how the family was until one day in 1950, when Jasper and Alice showed up. Now that is one weird story. Alice is wonderful, don't get me wrong; but to know right from your first moment of being a vampire, who your mate is going to be and that you're not going to meet him for another eighteen years?" Daniel shook his head. "That kind of knowledge would drive me mad." I must have been looking at him questioningly. "Alice can see the future based on people's decisions."

"She knows what's going to happen?"

"Yes, but as people change their plans the outcome changes, so it can be a moment by moment thing."

"Does she know what's going to happen to us?"

"Well… That depends on you."

"Me?"

"She can't know our future unless both of us have agreed to be in it together. When I last spoke to her about it, you hadn't chosen me, so I was no part of your life."

"You think it might have changed now?"

"I hope so." He smiled. "So back to story," he continued. "Bella joined the family in 2006. Edward changed her after Ness's birth and that's how the family was until last year. Carlisle, Esmé, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper and Alice lived in the house. Edward, Bella and Ness had a cottage in the forest."

"And then Ness started school, the same day I started there?"

"Yes. Charlie knows everything and has done for a while. As a young child, Ness grew at a phenomenal rate, so there was no way that he wouldn't notice that. He worked it out for himself and confronted Edward about it. He's come to terms with things amazingly well. Once Ness's growth had slowed down, it was going to be possible for her to mix with humans her own age – well, apparent age. Now she's mature she won't change, so her time in any place is going to be limited. Charlie thought it would be a great idea for her to come live with him for a while. She could do the last two years of High School so he could spend more time with her and she could experience living as a human."

"I would never have guessed she was a hybrid."

"We use the term 'well camouflaged' about Ness, because she is. She doesn't have to hide away on sunny days, she doesn't have cold skin and she has a heartbeat, even though she's just as durable and immortal as we are.

"And she eats human food?"

"She eats both, although he has to hunt to keep herself in balance. Let her go too long without hunting and she gets crabby."

"She fitted in well."

"It wasn't trouble free, being human wasn't as easy as she thought it would be and the stress of it all was why she ran away to San Francisco last June, which is where I come into the picture. However, there are still more members of the family for me to tell you about and you know all these ones."

"What?" I asked, questioningly. "I know other vampires?"

"Yes." He smiled. In fact you have met all but three of the family over the course of the last year."

I stared at him amazed and then something popped into my head. "Gold eyes!" I exclaimed. "The couple at the ice rink had gold eyes!"

"Yes, that was Carlisle and Esmé, they couldn't wait to meet you. They run the facility in Italy, but came back especially, when Alice told them you'd be in Seattle."

"Really? Oh my goodness! And that guy I saw you with beside the rink, you said he was your brother. So that was…?

"That was Jasper. He was propelling me away from your blood."

"Oh." I remembered, I'd cut my lip that day.

"You didn't meet Alice, she'd stationed herself in a store she'd seen you want to go in, but Mike took you for lunch instead, so she didn't manage to engineer a meeting. Rose fixes cars." He looked at me and waited for me to pick out the right person.

"The woman fixing your Jaguar?"

"Yes. She tells me at length what's wrong with my driving. She's insisting I take lessons from her." He chuckled.

"And I know the rest of them?"

"Yes. Well, you know Edward and Bella and Charlie and Ness. Obviously, as you now know, wherever Ness is so is Jake and he's part of our family too. I'll come on to him later; those two are another piece of weird. Shall we see some more of the forest first?"

"That would be good." Daniel got up and helped me to my feet. The sun was nearly gone from the sky now and it was twilight. He pulled me onto his back and set off through the forest, not running as fast as he had before, but still faster than any human could run.

"How fast can you run?" I asked.

"Flat out? Seventy one miles an hour." He couldn't see it but my law dropped open. "I'm running at forty two miles an hour now."

"How can you tell?"

"From the abilities we get as vampires. Judging distance and speed is very important for our survival."

"Can you run the fastest in your family?"

"No, that honour belongs to Edward; he can get up to eighty six miles an hour."

"Wow!" We entered a little glade through which a stream meandered. Daniel set me down and I perched on a fallen log. He came and sat beside me. "So tell me who the rest are?"

"Up until the most recent years, the family has grown because Carlisle saved those close to death. That's true of Bella, but prior to that she'd made the decision to become a vampire so she could be with Edward. She was the first one who'd made that choice. None of us, not me, Jasper, Alice or any of us ever had a choice. Carlisle has always maintained a policy of only changing those who have no other hope of survival. But he hadn't bargained on Ness, or the influence of other vampires. I don't think it's going to be too difficult to work out who two of our other family members are, or were. Things haven't been easy over the last year."

"Jess and Dan?" I said, thinking of the novocaine comment Dan had made and guessing at the tragedy of Jess's death that he was alluding to.

"Yes."

"So Ness started school and as you know, made friends with Jess and Dan. On their birthday there was a party."

"I remember! It got busted, they were drinking."

"Yes and so was Ness. A hybrid vampire on vodka is not a good combination. Do you remember the video that got posted online of her?"

"No, I didn't see that."

"Well, that attracted the attention of the… vampire police, the Volturi."

"That doesn't sound good."

"No it wasn't. They are charged with keeping our existence secret – amongst other things - and so one of them was despatched to deal with Ness. They sent their most-feared enforcer, a female vampire; but things didn't quite work out as she planned. It's a familiar tale when an older woman falling for a younger man, but in their case twelve hundred years is quite an age gap. But still, she fell head over heels in love with a seventeen year old boy from Forks High School."

"Dan?" I guessed.

"Jane." Daniel said.

"No!" I was stunned. "Jane? As in Will Randall's sister?"

"Yes. But she's not his real sister."

"So Dan married her?"

"Yes."

"She's… twelve hundred years old?"

"Yes."

"But they're not together anymore?"

"No, the events of Christmas put paid to that. She sent divorce papers through in January and as you know, it's been like watching a man die a slow death ever since. Dan doesn't consider himself part of our family anymore, but we do and it's tough watching him go through this. Especially as everyone thinks it's to do with Jess's death and it isn't."

"But he's bound to be cut up over the death of his sister."

"Yeah. Sort of."

"So Will? He's a vampire too?"

"Yes. Ness was very determined that the two parts of her life would not meet. Sadly for her, Jess is a walking vampire magnet and snared Will at The Shed one night. Jess, working out pretty soon afterwards that Will wasn't human, understandably kept him hidden from Ness and Dan. Ness was trying to keep Dan and Jane apart and wasn't paying attention to what Jess was doing. The whole lot collapsed in on Ness when Jane and Dan ended up together and Jess ended up pregnant by Will. Add that to a bunch of other problems and poor Ness ran off to San Francisco and straight into me."

"But you said Bella died giving birth to Ness. Jess wasn't pregnant when she died."

"No, Ben was born safely in July. Hybrid pregnancies last twenty eight days and apart from broken ribs and needing a hysterectomy, Jess came out remarkably unscathed. The family learned a lot from Bella's experience with Ness." Summer finished, Jess went back to school and spent every spare moment with Will and Ben."

"Until Christmas." I turned around to him. "Was that the girl who said had died, that night I met you after Christmas? You said you'd spoken to her partner?"

"Yes, I'd spoken to Will."

"He must've been distraught."

"He was."

"How is he now?"

"They're good. The three of them are living in Alaska."

"Three…?"

Daniel smiled. "We _thought _Jess was dead. When I spoke to you that day that was genuine, we thought we'd lost her. But it turns out her family have previous when it comes to vampires and he'd come to collect her."

"Jess isn't dead?"

"No. We believed Jess had been caught up in the explosion, but Edward picked up that one of Jess's friends had seen a vampire and from that he was able to piece together who it was and they set out to find her. They found Jess a few days later, but by then she'd been officially pronounced dead, her death certificate issued and her funeral carried out. She couldn't go back without serious questions being asked. She'd already made the decision to join us, although she'd planned for it to be some time in the future. In the end, it made it easy for her to be where she wanted to be, with Will and Ben. Will changed her back in February. She's our newest vampire."

"And she's living in Alaska?"

"Yes, with our cousins. Sometimes I wish she were here, we could do with some intervention with Dan. So that's everyone: Carlisle, Esmé, Rosalie, Emmett, Jasper, Alice, Edward, Bella, Ness, Jake, Charlie, Will, Jess, Ben, Dan, Jane, - even though they don't feel they are - me… and you, if you want to be."

"Just like that? Part of your family and they barely even know me?"

"When vampires decide who they want to be with, there's no going back. I'm sorry if this seems a little previous, but I've chosen you. Vampires mate for life and I let myself fall for you before I was sure how you felt about me." He looked embarrassed.

"Vampires mate for life? But you're immortal." A choice I had not expected lay out in front of me. "I… could become a vampire?"

"If you want to be, I would never force you and if you say no, then that's OK, you have a choice." He was at pains to reassure me.

"But you said vampires mate for life and that you'd chosen me? What happens if I don't choose to become a vampire? What happens to you after I die?"

"Then I'd miss you every day for eternity."

My blood was suddenly pounding very loudly in my ears as what he'd said sank in. I looked at him. "And you've chosen me?"

"If you'll have me."

"And I get you keep you forever, this isn't just a casual thing for you? You don't have a harem somewhere and I'm just another one for that."

"No. There were a couple of girls in college, Helen and then you."

"You didn't date anybody after Helen?"

"No, divorce takes all the fun out of dating."

"No pretty vampire girl to catch your eye?"

He shook his head vehemently. "Absolutely not. No, with you it was love at first sight."

"What, you mean me bundled up in every layer I could put on and standing in a parking lot?" I said, thinking back to last October when I'd seen him for the first time.

"No, wearing a white shirt, blue jeans and black heeled boots."

"What?" Had we met before?"

"I clearly made an impression on you." He said wryly. "I was stood in the hallway outside the gym at the Civic Anniversary. You came in, said hi to me and then ran into Ness and Jess who were just leaving. Do you remember?"

"That was _you?_" He nodded. "I don't know why I didn't… oh, yes I do. It was the day I'd told Scott that we were through. Sorry, I was in Gloria Gaynor _I will survive_ mode. Men were a more primitive species that day."

Just then, Daniel's phone beeped. He pulled it out on his pocket and read it. "Bella wants us to stop by the cottage, there's news from Ness."

"She's in Italy with her band."

"Yes, playing for a bunch of vampires."

"But the rest of the band are human?" I saw the danger.

"Yeah and they know that should they even _think _of the band as lunch, the Cullens will hunt every last one of them down. Besides, Jake's with her and he's enough of a deterrent." Daniel stood up.

"You were going to tell me about Jake."

"I will; but later. Let's go to the cottage." He pulled me onto his back again and set off through the forest.

It was dark when we arrived at the cottage. It was set in a clearing, but I couldn't see a road or any paths that led to it. It was low and stone built, with a pale wooden door. On both sides of the door there were pots and growing up the exterior walls were honeysuckle and clematis plants. From one of the windows came a soft yellow light. As we approached the door opened and Bella greeted us.

"Sit down, make yourself at home. The cottage was deceptively spacious. We were in a large room the far right end of which was divided into a small kitchen. The main section was simply furnished with two sofas, an armchair, a coffee table and an entire wall of bookcases, stacked with books of all ages and conditions. Along the top ran dozens of framed photographs of the family. Some old, from the 1920s or 30s, through to one of Jake and Ness, that must have been taken on her graduation day. I sat down and Daniel pulled me close which wasn't something I objected to at all. I smiled at his enjoyment of being able to hold me. I pressed my lips gently together and found that they still felt tender.

On the far left of the room was a passageway and it was from here that Edward emerged, carrying a laptop which he placed on the coffee table.

"She's sent photo's, but read the email first." There was a snicker from him.

"I think it's lovely idea. "Bella said. "She's right; it's the perfect excuse."

"Yeah, whatever." Edward grinned and pulled a little tube out of his pocket. He handed it to me. "Something to help with the swelling."

"It's good stuff." Bella chimed in. "Put it on before you go to sleep and in the morning they're pretty much back to normal. Oh and a word of warning. Don't think you're the one who can do the biting. I chipped my tooth on Edward once."

Daniel laughed heartily. "You should write a book Bella, you and Jess. '_Dating Vampires for Dummies_.'

"I don't think there'd be much call for that." Bella pointed her finger at Daniel. "And don't let him warm his hands on your stomach, they think it's hilarious."

Daniel and Edward laughed.

"He already did that." I confessed

Bella narrowed her eyes. "Daniel."

"I'm sorry. I just like hearing her laugh. So what does Ness have to say?" He picked up the computer and placed it on his lap. He put his arm about around me and left me with no doubt that I was included in reading the email too.

"Excuse the sweary abbreviations. I wish she wouldn't do that." Said Edward.

I turned my attention to the screen.

From: rcc

To: eamc ; imsc ; djmc ; cs ; rlhc ; emc , mabc ; jwc ; wrc ; jmt ; bwrc

Hi Guys!

Sorry for the one-size-fits-all email, but I've only got a few minutes before the sound check for tonight. We've only been here one day and already Chrissy wants to kill Stacey more than I do. Jake's nicknamed Dan 'Deathwish' as he's obsessed with busting into the Volturi Headquarters to see Jane (she isn't here, she on business in Bulgaria). Jake's also threatening to phase at even the hint of a red eye, so it's going to be an interesting wedding! Demetri is amusingly nervous and Trine is so, so lovely!

The Villa is totally gorgeous and the photos that Grandma sent don't do it justice – she's excelled herself and the place is HUGE! It's not a villa, it's a castle!

Jane being away is the reason why the wedding was this week, so they could get Dan in and out without Jane knowing. Apparently she flips if you mention him. I saw her picture on the board in reception – CEO of the 'Solace Foundation' WTF?

We spent yesterday hanging out by the pool and it got me thinking, that as I don't think any of us have anything on for the next couple of weeks, wouldn't it be a great idea that once the band have gone home, for me and Jake to stay here and for you guys to join us? It's Dad's 115th soon, Ben's first birthday next month, it's Carlisle and Esmé's eighty fifth wedding anniversary next weekend and we didn't manage to get together for my Graduation – so how about it? It would be wonderful if we could, please, please, PLEASE! I'm also hoping that in the last 48 hours miracles have happened and that Daniel's sorted things out with Stephanie. I hope she can come too. Also, Grampa, could you please hurry up and tell Heather about us, because I'd love it if you two could come as well!

Please think about it, but more than that, please say yes!

All our love

Jake and Ness xxx

"So are we going?" Daniel looked to Bella.

"I'm packing already." She replied. "Edward's more reluctant. Something about not wanting attention drawn to certain things?" She smiled. "I think he's getting a little sensitive in his old age." She darted across the room in a blur and appeared sat by his side on the sofa.

"It's not that, I simply fail to see why Ness feels it's imperative that we mark people's birthdays. It's not relevant if you're not adding to the total."

"Oh suck it up Edward, she wants to do this. As she pointed out, it's not just your birthday we'd be celebrating; we'd be celebrating other things. We should go, even if we're there to mark her Graduation, I felt cheated that we couldn't be there."

"You couldn't be there because of the sun." I said, realising why Ness had been so upset that day.

"Yes," replied Bella. "It was the only day I've ever prayed for rain, or that Principal Greene would do things as he's always done. We were stood in the trees bordering the school, but it wasn't the same."

"I remember; she was looking over there."

"There are certain cruelties to this life." Edward added. "And that was one of them."

"So, Italy?" Daniel turned to me.

"Me?"

"Yes, you're included. And if I'm not mistaken, Italy's on your list of places you've always wanted to visit." His face held a degree of triumph.

"That's true."

"So? Do you want to go? Meet the family?"

Meet his family? Certain worries about his family presented themselves in my head.

"The only potential difficulty is with Jess." Edward answered my thoughts. "She's only four months old; but between Jasper and I, we can head off any situation that might arise, and Will won't let her out of his sight. Our family is increasingly spread out, so opportunities like this are becoming scarce."

"All the more reason to celebrate people's birthdays and anniversaries, so we get the opportunity to meet up. That could be Ness's motive. Perhaps she's trying to keep us all together." Bella's argument seemed logical to me.

"You could be right." Edward agreed. He turned to me. "Stephanie? It's your call."

I was scared, but less because I was going to some vampire clan gathering, more because I was actually going out of the country. "Yes." I said hesitantly. "I'd like to go."

"Good." Edward got up and retrieved the laptop. "I'll book tickets."

Daniel placed his cool lips briefly on my forehead. "Don't worry, we'll look after you."

"I don't speak any Italian." I confided to him.

"Neither do I. But luckily for us, Edward's fluent."

"And Carlisle and Esmé are too." Edward added. "And I hope Ness will have picked it up."

"In a week?" I questioned.

Edward nodded. "Yes. I'm hoping that she might finally use that brain of hers to its full potential, instead of using it to keep one step behind Pete Degrassi."

"She did that intentionally?"

"Yes," Edward replied. "She didn't want to stand out. Once Alice told her that Graduation Day would be sunny, she saw no reason to be the one out the front making the valedictory speech, if we couldn't be there to see it."

"I knew she was capable of more." I added.

"She is. Right, there we are six tickets."

"Six?" I asked.

"Things went well with Kael?" Asked Daniel.

"Very well!" Bella grinned. "Looks like I'm getting a stepmother."

"But how do you think she'll take the news about us?" Daniel added.

"She took it amazingly well." Edward replied.

"It's done? Already?"

"Yes. This afternoon was interesting. There are not many kitchen tables that can claim to have had two vampires, a human, an angel and a nephilim sat around it. You should explain the whole thing about Kael, Uriah and the Quileutes to Stephanie."

Daniel looked at me. "I will."

"What's that?" I asked.

"The whole thing about you and why you ended up being the target of so much this last year."

It would be good to finally know.


	24. Chapter 24

**Chapter Twenty Four: Casa Del Sole**

I handed my virgin passport to the immigration clerk and she processed it with practiced speed. "Welcome to Italy." She said, giving me a smile as warm as the sun.

"Thank you." I looked at the first stamp in my passport. Finally, I could say I'd been somewhere. I walked over to where Charlie and Heather were standing, they'd been first through passport control.

"There's something to be said for hanging out with these guys." Said Heather. "I couldn't even dream of flying first class on an internal flight, let alone all the way from Sea-Tac to Florence, by way of Paris.

Charlie shrugged his shoulders. "It's just how it is. When you've been earning money since the early part of the eighteenth century, it has a tendency to pile up. Just wait until you need to get someplace in a hurry and they hire a Gulfstream. Now _that's_ the way to travel."

I looked over at Daniel, Bella and Edward as they came through passport control. Did these people on the desks have any inkling of what they were? Or that he guy who looked the youngest was older than the terminal building?

We exited into the Florence night, following Edward as he walked over to where two black SUVs were parked. Into one I saw our luggage being loaded and as we approached, a uniformed driver handed a key to Edward. They conversed in Italian before the six of us got into the front car.

"They'll take the luggage, I thought we'd get there a little quicker." Edward and Bella got in the front, with Charlie and Heather on the middle row of seats and Daniel and I behind. As Edward eased the car out into the traffic, Daniel pulled me to him and I rested my head on his chest. I thought back over the last few days.

Since Saturday I'd found myself in a very different world, and one that for good reason existed away from the notice of everyone else. I quickly learned how fundamental it was to protect Ness's real identity. If anyone guessed what or who she was, the whole family would have to pull out of Forks and disappear extremely quickly. The suggestion that Ness was Charlie's daughter was something that Edward and Bella were aware of and weren't doing anything to quash. Speculation that kept people's minds away from the truth was a good thing.

I'd spent most of the week at the Cullen's house, discovering more about Daniel and the rest of the family. To my delight, I got to look through some of Carlisle's books and paintings from the seventeenth century. Daniel took me through some of the early family photograph albums, with amusing pictures of Edward, Esmé, Carlisle, Rosalie and Emmett all looking the very model of fashionable early twentieth century people.

"You look so much older than seventeen, here." I said to Edward one evening, pointing to a picture of him that was taken in 1935.

"That was how it was," He replied." You were either a child or an adult, there were no teenage years."

"Do you prefer things now or back then?"

He held his hand out to Bella. "I prefer now. There's no contest."

There was one member of the family whose pictures I was not allowed to see. Those albums had to wait for Charlie to guide me through them. He arrived from work with a stack of pizza for the humans and, suitably stuffed, Charlie started on his specialist subject: Renesmee Carlie Cullen.

There was no doubt that he was a proud Grampa; he knew _everything_ about her. He went through every picture, telling me and Heather all about her amazing development, her special ability to let people see her thoughts, how fast she could run (59 miles an hour), how strong she was, how fast her hair grew and what she did when Emmett gave her chocolate for the first time – even at six weeks old she'd fought him tooth and nail for the rest of the bar. That Ness was precious to Charlie was indisputable. That she was special in every other way wasn't either. Charlie emphasized her rarity value and at one point I thought he'd stopped talking about Ness and gotten her mixed up with a Ming vase.

That night, as I settled down to sleep with Daniel lying beside me, it struck me just how amazingly normal the Cullens were. They really were a family!

"You think vampire and automatically your mind goes to imagery that you associate with that word: Coffins, darkness, blood, threat and fear. I don't think a day looking through photo albums and browsing the art collection is what I had in mind at all."

"It's the life we want. Plenty of vampires want the traditional life, but we want to be more than that. We want to contribute to society instead of sucking the life from it, if you'll pardon the expression. So we live in a way that meshes itself with humanity as far as it can. I'm sorry if it's too normal for you." He smiled.

"I'm not criticising, I'm just saying that it's hard to get my head around."

"You should sleep; you have a very long day tomorrow." Daniel grabbed a blanket, wrapped it around me and held me. Only in the height of a tropical summer when I was desperate to be cool could I be next to Daniel's skin. The rest of the time I'd be risking hyperthermia.

"It's my first time out of the US tomorrow." I said and not for the first time.

He grinned. "I know. I think Edward may have arranged a fanfare."

I rolled my eyes at him. He pushed me back into the pillows and gently kissed me, letting it build gradually as he gained confidence. For me it was still a struggle to rein myself in, I so desperately wanted him. But I had to go at his pace, one slip and it could end very badly.

He finished by planting a quick kiss on the end of my nose. "Sleep well."

"Are you hunting tonight?"

"Yes. I'll go when I know you're asleep and be back around four."

"OK, take care. Don't let those bears maul you." He smiled and I snuggled down.

"Hey sleepy head."

"Hmm?" I looked up at Daniel and the road noise got my attention.

"You dropped off."

"Did I?"

"Yes, we're nearly there at _Casa de Sole_, the house of the sun."

I sat back up and ran my fingers through my hair. I checked my watch, it was gone one o'clock in the morning and I could see little outside the car. After a few seconds the car slowed and Edward turned left. Looking out of the front window, I saw that the drive was bordered by trees. Just like the house north of Forks, it wound on for some time, but eventually it opened out into a wide gravelled courtyard where Edward brought the car to a stop under a stone porch.

"Hmm." Charlie scoffed. "Ness was right; this does look like a castle."

We climbed out of the car. Bella was already walking away from the house to get a better view of it. Heather, Charlie and I followed, but Edward went straight inside.

The house was three storeys high and curved away from us so that the door was the closest part of the building. It looked so classically Italian, grand and so unlike the white wood house in the forest at home.

"Shall we see what Esmé's done inside?" Bella asked and the five of us walked in through the wide wooden door.

Once through the door, although everything had a Tuscan feel to it, there was an overwhelming sense of familiarity, of modernity and space. This I now knew was Esmé's style. Underfoot was pale marble flooring and in front of me Heather tapped it with her foot.

"Oh my goodness." She said. "And this is just the lobby."

The door in front of us opened and through it came Esmé, a woman I had seen once before, on an ice rink in Seattle when she'd helped me to my feet. She embraced Bella and spoke too quickly for the rest of us to understand.

"And there's no word from him?" Said Daniel beside me.

Esmé came over to greet him, kissing Daniel on each cheek. "No. Carlisle's been out searching for hours and I can't even raise even him now either." She turned to me. "Stephanie." She beamed, holding out her hands to me. I took them. "I'm so thrilled you could come. It's lovely to meet you properly." He hands were familiarly cold and hard and she kissed me on each cheek too. She kissed and greeted Charlie and Heather as she had done me. "Come through, I'm afraid we have a bit of a situation on our hands."

We followed Esmé through to an enormous living area and I saw more familiar details. The entire front wall was glass. To the right there was a library area, with bookcases, tables and computers. In the middle of the bookcases was a passageway leading off to the right wing of the house. On the opposite side an identical passageway leading off into the left wing. To the back of the room, either side of the door we'd come through, staircases ran up and down to the other floors. Edward was on the far right hand side of the room and on the phone, although he wasn't speaking. Bella went over to him.

"What's the matter?" Asked Charlie.

"Dan's gone missing." Replied Esmé. He gave us the slip on the way to the airport. I'm afraid it's been an extremely tense thirty six hours. There was an ugly scene in Volterra last night. Jane came back from Bulgaria early, having heard that Dan was here. Jane and Dan had the mother of all fights and it very nearly ended in something awful. Jake and Ness tried to intervene, this guy Rolf who seems to be Jane's bodyguard, bit Ness…"

"What! Is she OK?" Charlie was not happy.

"There was a bit of a delay, but she used her phial within the time. Carlisle will check her over when he gets back, or Edward can do it."

"Where is she now?" Charlie asked.

"She's asleep." Replied Bella. "Let her rest Dad, bites take it out of her."

"I can't raise him either." Said Edward.

"It's most unlike him not to answer. I'm worried." Esmé said.

Edward was at Esmé's side in an instant and put his arms around the woman he thought of as his mother. "When's Alice due in?" He asked.

"Their flight's due in at three fifty."

"OK." Hopefully we can get a better sense of where they are by then."

"Do you want to go look for them?" Asked Daniel of Edward.

"Not right now, we'll wait 'til there are more of us here."

"So he's not in the vicinity of your head?" Asked Charlie.

"No and I didn't pick anything up on the drive in. The rest of them got away OK?"

"Yes. I'll need to call Susie Taylor later if we can't find him. Although I think we can all guess where he's headed."

"Volterra?" Said Daniel.

Esmé nodded. "Jake's nickname for him has proved to be horrifically true." She shook her head. "Poor boy."

"What went on between him and Jane?" Asked Daniel.

"Ness will tell you more when she wakes, but Dan decided it would be a good idea to cut himself in front of a room full of traditional vampires."

"Idiot." Said Charlie.

"Was he sober?" Asked Edward.

"He's not been sober all week. He's doing drugs too, did you know that?"

"Yes." Edward replied. "We've tried to intervene."

Esmé shook her head sadly. "I dread to think what Jess'll say when she sees him."

"We can only hope she can talk some sense into him." Said Charlie. "Stupid kid, what does he think he's doing?"

"He's in pain Charlie." Esmé said sadly. "From what Ness said, he riled and raged at Jane but she didn't care, there wasn't a flicker of response from her. I think he was trying to provoke some kind of reaction in her, anything. She's changed, she's not the Jane she was or the Jane we knew; she's something else now. I think Dan was clinging to the hope that if she saw him again she'd fall into his arms and it would be OK. Sadly, that's not to be." Esmé shook her head as if to shake away a dark thought. "But Rose and Emmett will be here soon," she said more brightly. "So let me show you to your rooms. One thing I need to mention." She gestured to the right hand passageway. "The right hand side of the house is the section where our students live. As you know, these are vampires who are making the transition between the traditional and our way of living. They are in various stages, but I must stress that's their side of the house and please respect that. Some of them are still uncomfortable with the scent of humans and it's easier if that part is kept human-free. You will meet some of them while you're here, but for others it's too early. Keeley for instance has been with us only a week; whereas Faisal and Alia are nearly ready to leave. But more of that later. Rooms!"

We all followed Esmé into the family's side of the house. The house was set into a hillside and the rooms on the western side of the house had the same full-length glass windows, but this time draped with voile. Esmé showed Daniel and I into our room and again I had my breath taken away. The main area was dominated by the most enormous bed, but other than that there at first glance appeared to be very little else in here, until a keener eye picked out the closet doors recessed around the room. Daniel opened one and pulled out a clothes rail far bigger than I would ever need. At the far end was a dressing table. Beyond that was the door into the bathroom, done out in white marble. There was a knock at the door. Daniel went to get it and Edward brought our cases in. I had already raised an eyebrow at how effortlessly the vampires carried cases that I struggled to pull along the floor.

"Would you like me to unpack for you?" Daniel offered. "While you go and look at the view."

"It's the middle of the night?" I questioned and Daniel furrowed his brow, giving me a look that suggested that I should think again. "Oh! The sky!" He laughed at me. "I'm tired, I forgot."

I went to the windows and unlocked one of them and stepped out onto a balcony. There was a balcony above and, as I looked over it, one below too. Below me to the right was a large swimming pool set in an enclosed courtyard off the central section of the house. The water was lit, giving off a gentle blue glow. Underneath the living room windows were an identical set of windows and the door was open out to the pool. Suddenly there was a blur and a splash. From nowhere a girl appeared in the water. She surfaced and made a couple of lazy strokes towards the far side of the pool. She had long dark hair that floated out behind her and she was swimming naked. When she reached the shallow end of the pool she stood up. She seemed to know I was here and looked directly at me with an unblinking gaze. A familiar chill crept through my body as I recognised my instinctive fear, now only reserved for vampires that I didn't know.

"It's done." Daniel said, softly beside me.

"Already?" I exclaimed but he didn't reply. I turned and he too was watching the girl in the pool.

"Bright red." He voice had a tone of warning. "That's Keeley." I knew he could see colours just as clearly as in daylight. He gave a little scoff.

"What?" I asked.

"She likes what she sees." He was amused.

"Well, she can't have you."

"She's not interested in me." I looked back at Keeley and saw an expression on her face that I didn't quite know what to do about. "I have some competition." He snickered.

I turned my back on her, seeking to bury myself in Daniel's chest and then becoming aware, to my horror, that my cheeks felt hot. Daniel backed away from me and I knew that as much as I wanted him I had to let this blush fade for my own safety.

"Emmett and Rose are arriving." He said.

"I can't hear anything." But a few seconds later I heard the car.

"Come and meet them." He reached for my hand.

"But my cheeks?"

"It's only me who struggles and they're fading." He ran a cool gentle finger down my face. As I left the balcony I turned back to the pool, but Keeley was gone.

Back in the living room Esmé was already deep in conversation with Rose at vampire speed. Emmett was greeting Heather and Charlie. He was as physically intimidating to look at as Rosalie was breathtakingly beautiful. They all were. I'd never had any particular hang-ups about myself, but this was like being surrounded by supermodels. Did only beautiful people get to be vampires or did the conversion process do something to you?

"The latter." Said Edward, walking in behind me.

"A fresh head for you Edward? That must be nice." Emmett walked over to his brother and there was an alarming blurred tussle between them.

"Boys!" Esmé warned. "We have guests." Edward and Emmett broke apart.

"It's good to see you all again, it's been too long." Said Emmett, embracing Bella. "Great idea of Ness's. Looks like she might have a use as our social secretary. She got bitten again, huh?" Emmett's face fell into worry and he looked at Edward.

"I know," said Edward. "And don't think Bella and I don't share your concern about that."

"We really should think about her future," Rosalie walked over. "More bites and she might not have one. For what it's worth I think it's time. She's out of school now and you know it's all she wants, much as it grieves me to have a dog as a nephew-in-law."

"You love him really." Emmett hit her shoulder playfully.

"I do, but don't ever tell him that." Rosalie turned to me. "And here you are, finally." She smiled broadly at me and held out her hands. "It's nice to meet you properly Stephanie. I'm hoping you can encourage Daniel to take more care of his cars."

Edward snickered. "Rose you're so transparent."

She looked at him. "Oh come on! You know how much fun they are to have around."

"I think it's a little early for that." Edward replied. "And this isn't the time."

"Is she thinking what I think she's thinking?" Daniel asked.

"Yes." Emmett replied. "The serial Aunt strikes again."

"Emmett, don't…" Edward warned.

Rose turned to her husband. "I _like_ being an Aunt, it's all the fun of parenting, but you get to give them back."

I suddenly clued into to what she was talking about. She thought I was going to have a baby with Daniel. What, already? I barely knew the guy.

"Thanks Rose." Growled Edward.

"Well, it's what happens when humans have sex." She said.

"Not always." I replied. "Some of us take precautions and choose when we want to have our babies." I was on the pill; I had a career to think about. A baby making an unscheduled appearance was something I could do without.

"Standing your ground against Rose?" Laughed Emmett. "Nice work Steph!"

"…anie. I corrected. I'm never a Steph." I grinned.

Rosalie swatted Emmett in the stomach. "That told you." She returned a dazzling smile to me. "I think you and I will get on just fine." And she stepped forward and kissed me on both cheeks. She pointed her finger at Daniel. "Don't bite her." She admonished.

"What do you think I'm trying not to do, here?" Daniel wrapped his arm around me and laughed.

With Rosalie and Emmett here, the gathering family sat down on the sofas and the discussion turned back to whether or not they should join the hunt for Dan. Bella thought that they should now and Rose agreed with her.

"Edward, how about you, Daniel and I go?" Asked Emmett. "The three of us could cover a substantial area before dawn."

"Do you need my help at all?" Added Charlie. "I mean once the sun's up…"

"Thanks Charlie, but we'll need to be back before dawn." Replied Edward. "Yes, I think we need to get out there as soon as possible." The three vampires were out the door like a shot.

"My, people come and go so quickly around here." Heather said with a twinkle in her eye.

"I'm sorry," replied Esmé. "We've considered both you and Stephanie members of our family for so long now, that we feel relaxed in your company. Look, it's going to be an hour or so until the rest of them arrive. With all of them together it can get noisy, so why don't you get some rest until then?"

"Will Jess be OK with us around?" Charlie asked.

"She's doing fine. She's managed Fairbanks on a Saturday, so I think she'll be OK. Will, Jasper and Edward will keep an eye on her."

"I can't believe she's alive." Said Heather.

"There was no way for her to go back." Said Bella. "Her re-appearance would start off too many questions. I know how much pain it's causing Susie and Brian, but Jess is happy to be with Will and Ben on a full time basis. Trying to split herself in two was causing its own stresses."

"And Ben's OK with us?" Heather asked.

"Oh yes, don't worry about him, he's like Ness. Hybrids have impeccable control." Replied Charlie; clearly now a world authority on vampire hybrids.

"Unless they get drunk on Vodka." Rosalie reminded him.

"She won't do that again." Charlie stated.

"She did it at Christmas." Said Bella.

"You never told me that." Charlie furrowed his brow at his daughter.

"Dad, she's not as perfect as you like to make out. She's a teen, she pushes the boundaries. This is the girl who stole and maxed out your credit card, remember? Don't put anything past her, she's a vampire."

"I know." But he sounded put out.

"And don't put her on a pedestal; she gets compromised like the rest of us. She went for Dan the day Ben was born and there will be other times in the future where she won't manage to be perfect." Bella turned to Heather. "Ben's fine, Jess was human for the first six months of his life so he's got very good control. But Esmé's right, you should rest before they get here. When all the boys get together it can get loud. "

We took their advice and retired to our rooms. I kicked off my shoes and lay on the top of the bed covers. I closed my eyes and imagined Daniel there with me. I dreamt I was kissing him, keeping myself tightly in check so as not to cause him any difficulty. He was running his hand around the outside edge of my breast. My dream felt wrong though, something was off and it took me a second or so to realise that it smelt wrong, this wasn't Daniel's scent this was… I opened my eyes to bright red ones only inches from mine. I froze in terror.

Keeley broke off the kiss but continued to touch my breast. "He really shouldn't leave you alone; I might very well steal you away. You're so beautiful." I didn't dare move or speak in case I did something to provoke her. She bent to kiss me again but didn't stay on my lips, she moved down over my jaw to my throat, somewhere Daniel would never kiss me, it was far too dangerous. "Oh my…" she sighed and she moved her kisses towards my jugular.

Suddenly she was off me and for a split second the shock of her removal did not alert me to something worse. There was snarling and growling and angry voices, but that was not the worst thing; that was the indescribable pain that was now spreading through my body. I gave little whimpers which didn't seem to alert the person holding Keeley, but someone else's face appeared in my line of sight.

"Oh my God she's bitten her, crap!"

"Alice?" Bella was there. "Oh no, Stephanie!" Bella was on the bed next to me holding my hand. "Alice phone Daniel now! I'm sorry, I know this is awful." Awful didn't even come close. "The pain was steadily increasing within me I couldn't keep still from the pain and my gasps were turning into yelps.

Rosalie was suddenly there. "Stephanie? Oh no! Suck it out Bella! Suck it out!"

"I can't! We need to get Edward or Carlisle!"

"They're miles away. We've got to do something, suck it out! You've got better control than I have."

"I don't trust myself. Alice?_"_

Alice was holding a phone to her ear. "I can't get either of them, the service is crap around here!"

"Did you see this happening?" Bella asked Alice.

"No, Jasper caught Stephanie's mood as we were arriving, all I got was…" Alice gestured at Keeley, now being securely held by Jasper. "Her… plans for Stephanie."

"So this was an accident?" Said Bella.

"It doesn't matter what it was! Rose yelled. "It's in progress now, we need to stop it! Bella, just do it, Alice and I will give you 5 seconds and then pull you away."

"But that's nearly a litre."

"That should be enough to get rid of it. It's what Edward took from you that time. Come on, we have do something."

"OK." Bella knelt by me and Alice and Rose stood behind her. Bella grabbed my jaw and pushed it over. There was more pain initially and then blissfully less.

"Three… four…._five!_" Alice yelled. Suddenly everyone was gone and so was the pain.

"OK, let's put this on." Charlie was there and he pressed a wet pad to a spot behind my ear. Heather appeared by his side and sat on the bed next to him.

"Well, it's all happening here." She said cheerily. "The rest of the family's arrived, they've found Dan, discovered why Carlisle wasn't getting in touch and now you've been bitten by a vampire." She looked at her watch. "And it's not even four in the morning."

"Is Dan OK?" I asked. Even lying down I felt light headed, which wasn't surprising when I'd lost nearly a litre of blood in five seconds.

Heather shook her head. "I don't know, they've not arrived back yet."

"And Carlisle?" I croaked.

"He was helping a woman who'd delivered a baby."

"Nice." I smiled.

Heather shook her head. "She didn't make it; he's bringing the baby back. It was Dan who found her and delivered it, Carlisle only found him at the end."

Charlie kept the compress on the bite for what felt like ages. It was only the three of us. There wasn't much talking and I really wasn't in a state to say much. I felt very weak and extremely tired. Finally, Charlie was satisfied it has stopped bleeding and dressed the wound.

"You're fortunate that she caught you where she did. That missed your jugular. You're going to need to get changed, there's quite a bit of blood on your shoulder and on the sheets." Heather helped me up as Charlie stripped the bed, walked through to the bathroom, dumped it all the in the tub and turned on the cold water. Heather sat me back down and pulled open drawers until she put together a complete change of clothes for me.

"Do you think you can manage?" She asked.

I nodded.

They left the room; I grabbed the clothes and went into the bathroom. I peeled mine off, throwing the bloodied ones in the tub with the bed sheets. I felt my neck and walked over to the mirror to peer at it. The dressing was huge; it covered the entire side of my neck. Bending down to try and put my underwear on made me dizzy, so I sat on the cool marble floor and wriggled into my clothes. By the time I was finished, I was exhausted and only had enough energy to reach up to turn off the water, push the fabric fully under the cold water and slump back onto the floor. As the start of vacations went, I'd had better.

I crawled back over to the bed and leaned up against it. There was a knock at the door. I answered with a weak "Yes?"

"It's Carlisle, may I come in?"

"Yes."

I recognised him immediately from the ice rink. This time he was prepared with a medical bag that he opened. He peeled off the dressing and taped the bite together, before applying a fresh, smaller dressing.

"I am so sorry." He said. "But I'm glad Bella managed to stop it."

"How is she?"

"A little upset. That's the first time she's had human blood as a vampire and it's unsettled her."

"Is she OK?"

"She's fine, although you might find her distant for a day or two."

"Is Daniel back?"

"Yes, but I don't think it's a good idea for him to be in here, the scent of your blood is strong. I can take you through to the living room if you'd like? You can see the rest of them."

"How's Dan?"

"Odd."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not sure he's going to allow us to give the baby up for adoption. I think being the one who delivered it has had a profound effect on him. I got there right at the end, I tried to save her, but I couldn't. Do you think you can walk?"

I nodded.

Carlisle took my arm and escorted me back to the living room. I unclipped my hair from behind my ear to cover the dressing. It was starting to hurt now. The subdued chatter ceased as we emerged from the passageway. Daniel was over to me in a heartbeat and I went to him, wrapping my arms around his waist and feeling his familiar coolness through his shirt. As I rested against him I realised he wasn't breathing; that ability vampires had to shut down their breathing was useful. He guided me over to the sofa and sat me down next to him. Nobody said anything as the approach of footsteps had caught their attention. From the student's part of the house came a Middle Eastern vampire.

"She's in her room."

"Thank you Faisal." Replied Esmé.

"You're not kicking her out?" Questioned a blond-haired vampire who I knew was Jasper from his photograph. He was the one I'd seen with Daniel last December in Seattle.

"No, not just yet." Replied Carlisle. "Edward has concerns about her."

"What do you mean?" Jasper continued.

"This isn't the time." Esmé said, looking uncomfortable.

"If she's a danger to our family then she shouldn't be here." Said Rose.

"Edward will be happier knowing where she is." Replied Carlisle.

"And is Stephanie happy with that?" Rose asserted. "She was the one who Keeley attacked."

Everyone was suddenly looking at me. I looked at Daniel for reassurance.

"What do you want us to do with her?" He asked me.

"I don't know. I thought she was here to learn how to live the human way."

"She is." Said Edward, coming down the stairs. "But she's doing it for no other reason than to get close to human women. Others here are doing it for more genuine reasons which is the aim of this facility. My concern is that she's extremely predatory and I don't feel comfortable with her roaming around."

"Can we get the Volturi to make themselves useful and babysit her for a couple of days?" Asked Rose.

"Possibly." Replied Edward.

"I'd feel happier with that." Said Rose. "Stephanie?" I nodded in agreement with.

"OK, I'll call them." Said Carlisle and pulled out his phone.

"How's Bella?" Asked Alice.

"A little subdued." Replied Edward.

"Please tell her thank you, from me." I said.

"Of course I will."

"And is Ness _still_ asleep?" Alice griped.

"Yes."

"Are you sure she's there?"

"Yes." Edward smiled.

"I might have to go in there and drag them out." Alice continued and then a small blond-haired boy appeared spontaneously in her lap. I was getting used to their sudden arrivals. Alice stroked his hair and he looked directly at me. He was about four years old and had the most startling blue eyes. Eyes that I realised I'd seen before – on his mother.

"Ah ha, young Mr Cullen; finally." Said Charlie. "Are your parents joining us?"

"Yes, when Mummy's put some clothes on."

"Did something happen to the ones she was wearing?" Charlie continued.

"Daddy ripped them off."

Everyone snickered, even me. "I'm sorry I asked that." Charlie pinched the bridge of his nose. Ben remained unfazed. To the side of me I saw movement and a term paper suddenly appeared at my shoulder.

"Sorry it's late." Her voice was familiar, but yet different. I hesitantly turned to see the unmistakeable sight of Jess. Her eyes were deep amber but her cheeky smile was every bit her. "I had a bit of trouble with death."

"It's good to see you." I said, taking the paper from her.

"And you too. Welcome to the family. I won't kiss you; you smell a bit too much like breakfast."

Will joined her. There was a blur and Ben appeared, clinging to his father's shoulder. "Nice to see you again. Will said, he bounced the little boy on his arm. "This is Ben."

"Hello Ben." I said simply.

"Hello." He replied. His eyes were mesmerising, I couldn't take mine from them. "You were Mummy's History teacher?"

"I was."

"Daddy's told me all about being in the Civil War. What's your favourite bit of history?"

"I'm fascinated by the medieval."

"Eleazar could tell you all about that, he was there. Auntie Jane would be better, but she's not here anymore." The sadness in his voice told me that Jane was missed by more people than Dan. "Mummy, could we go see her?"

Jess shook her head. "I'm sorry sweetpea; she has a new life now."

Ben jumped down from Will's shoulder and ran off upstairs.

Will sighed and pulled Jess to him.

"If I ever see her again, I will personally be the one to set fire to her pieces." Jess said softly. Then she pulled away from Will and looked at Daniel. "But that's by the by, you need to fill me in on what the hell's being going on in Forks. I could get naff all sense out of Edward and Bella and Ness is permanently on planet Jake. So tell me; what's going on down at La Push?" Jess still retained her brusque northern-English way of speaking.

"We probably should wait for Jake," Replied Daniel. "It's had major repercussions on the pack and he's better placed to explain it."

"The sleepyheads are still not up." Grumbled Alice.

"Oh I'll go and wake 'em." Jess giggled.

"Ness got bitten last night Jess, let her sleep." Esmé soothed.

Jess pointed to me. "Stephanie got bitten just now; I don't see her flaking out. Nope, I'm getting her."

Just then a thin, pale figure came down the stairs. If I didn't know better, I'd have said it was a ghost. But it wasn't anything other than the very emaciated figure of Dan. His clothes hung off him; his skin didn't look like he'd seen the sun in years and looked almost albino.

Esmé stood up. "You look much better for a wash and a shave." Wow, if this was better, then I hated to think what he looked like before. Dan smiled weakly at Esmé.

"You look like shit." Said Jess walking towards him. Dan made the sign of the cross with his fingers to ward his sister off. "I'm not going to drink from you, I suspect with all you've put away that your blood's sixty per cent proof by now. However, I'm very tempted to smack you around the head for getting yourself in such a state. Mum and Dad must be going spare." Dan shrugged his shoulders. "That's a yes then? So you saw her?"

Dan nodded. "Didn't go well."

"No, trying to cut yourself at vampire central wasn't one of your better decisions, you prat."

Dan shrugged. "Seemed like a good idea at the time. At least the pain would've stopped."

"Good job Ness was there, although not good for her that she ended up getting bitten."

"I didn't ask her to intervene." Dan said, churlishly.

Jess lost it. "Well she's going to isn't she?" She shouted. "It's what we all do, try and care for you? And all you do is throw it back in our faces!"

"Shut up, you'll wake Sophie!" Dan hissed, looking back up the stairs anxiously.

"Sophie? What're you doing Dan? You can't just suddenly be a Dad to some random baby you picked up."

"I can." He snapped.

"You _can't_! What about the woman's family? I don't suppose for one minute that you've thought this through. What about getting her back home? You can't rock up with a baby, Mum'll have you sectioned!"

"You managed it."

"I had all this lot to help me!" Jess roared. Will was over to her instantly and Jasper moved in closer. "Who's going to help you?" Dan looked uncomfortable and scratched his neck. "You're expecting us to take her in aren't you?" Jess said quietly. "This isn't an orphanage, you can't grab any waif and stray off the street and give them a home with us. That's a human baby;" Jess pointed upstairs. "I can smell her and Edward will tell you the havoc it's playing with my throat. There are implications beyond the logistics of buying milk and nappies."

"I know that."

"Do you? So what's your plan then?" Jess folded her arms. "Come on knobhead, amaze me with it." Dan said nothing, but something outside was catching everyone's attention and they were looking at Edward.

"Who is it? " Asked Carlisle.

"I don't know," said Edward. "They're shielded. I know they're there but I can't hear them."

"I can't hear anything." I whispered to Daniel.

"There's a car coming down the drive." He replied.

"That's someone who knows you're here and doesn't want you to know what's on their mind." Said Emmett standing up. "Gotta be one of the Volturi." I got the impression that Emmett was up for a fight.

"They're called the Solace Foundation now." Said Esmé.

"Yeah, whatever," replied Emmett tersely. "Different name same old heap of trouble."

I heard the car now. Over the other side of the room, Jess's quarrel with Dan was forgotten as she flitted back over to stand with Will.

"They've sent someone with a shield to collect Keeley?" Alice said in a confused tone.

"Is that what you sense?" Asked Jasper.

"Yes, they've come for Keeley; that much I can pick up."

"She doesn't need mentally shielding, she needs physically restraining." Grumbled Edward.

"Well, I'm sure we'll know in a second." Said Carlisle.

"Should we leave the room?" Asked Charlie, I noticed Heather was looking concerned.

"No, you're our family," Said Carlisle. "This is our home. Whoever comes through that door would be very unwise to pit themselves against all the vampires in this room." There was a knock at the door. "I'll get it." Said Carlisle and walked out into the lobby.


	25. Chapter 25

**Chapter Twenty Five: Mrs Taylor**

Carlisle was followed into the room by someone I didn't expect. Jane. Our astronomy meeting before Christmas was the last time I'd seen her and I could see that she was changed from then. She was dressed differently for one thing. Gone were the relaxed jeans and tops and in their place was a smart business suit, glittering jewellery and high heels. Her eyes were a deep red and I felt a pang of fear as she glanced at me. She looked imperious, intimidating and did not acknowledge me, or anyone else. What was surprising was that she was hand in hand with a tall female vampire. In the corner, Dan started to retreat back up the stairs.

"You don't need to leave." She snapped at him. "I'm not here to see you."

"I've got something to be… getting on with." He carried on walking up the stairs.

"You've got a nerve," said Jess. If anything could be said to have been expressed with venom, it was that.

"I am not here to start anything," said Jane in clipped, precise tones. "I am here to collect your troublesome vampire."

"You?" continued Jess. "Why you? Don't you have people who work for you?"

"I like to attend to things personally."

"Really? And I thought you were here to show off your new girlfriend."

Jane smiled with derision. "You're not familiar with Renate's abilities."

"Whatever floats your boat." Jess said cattily.

"Renate is a shield," explained Edward. "But, unlike Bella, she needs to be in physical contact with whoever she's shielding."

"Is there something you need to hide from Edward?" Emmett goaded.

"Yes. For your information I deal with a lot of sensitive issues and complex arrangements. I don't want Edward picking through those for his own amusement."

"Jane, I have known Edward for ninety eight years and never once have I found him picking though the contents of anyone's head for his own amusement." Carlisle said with a surprising degree of gravity.

"Apart from Ness's." Edward added with a wry smile. "What?" He looked at Carlisle's shocked face. "I've got to get some entertainment value from parenting."

"You're cracking jokes now bro?" Emmett chuckled. "Let me call hell, see if it's a little cold down there today."

"Just trying to lighten the mood." Edward smiled and then it faded. "But I don't think Jane appreciates it."

"Mrs Taylor." She snapped. "You will address me as Mrs Taylor."

Jess almost choked and flitted to appear right in front of her former sister-in-law. "So let me get this straight. You have single-handedly wrecked my brother's life, you want absolutely nothing to do with him, but yet you conveniently want to keep his name? Sorry, but you're going to have to explain that one to me."

"I am entitled to call myself Mrs Taylor, regardless of those circumstances."

"You don't deserve to. Why don't you use your maiden name? Oh, I forgot," Jess gloated. "You don't remember it."

"I'm not the only person who ended up in their vampire state not being able to remember their name."

"We're not talking about Will here! What you did to Dan was unforgiveable, you've broken him!" Jess pointed back up the stairs. "That isn't my brother," she yelled. "That's a _shell! _Everything that was him died the day that you decided to bail out of your marriage!" Jane said nothing. Jess began to snicker. "Where I come from we have a description for girls like you. And nothing on this planet more perfectly describes what you are Jane. I _refuse_ to call you Mrs Taylor, that's just an insult to my family. You Jane, are the personification of a cold, heartless, bitch." Jess sniggered.

"Thank you for that." Jane replied and Jess suddenly collapsed in screaming agony on the floor, clutching her head.

"Jane!" Roared Carlisle. "Not in this house!"

Will helped Jess up from the floor, Ben was crying on Jasper's lap.

"I think you should collect Keeley and go." Carlisle regained his equanimity. "I believe everything has been said that needs saying."

"I did want to ask how Ness is." Jane added. "I was sorry that she got bitten."

"I'm fine." Ness said in a clipped tone. She was stood on the stairs, with Bella, Jake and Dan. In his arms Dan was cradling a baby.

"I'm glad." Jane turned and went to leave.

"Excuse me, Mrs Taylor?" Heather stood up. Jane stopped and turned back. "I'm Heather Scott, we haven't been introduced. I'm Charlie's girlfriend."

"I know."

"I'm curious, that you came here armed with someone to keep Edward from getting at your thoughts, although I take your point that there are things about your work that you need to keep secret. I believe Edward is an honourable man and from what Charlie has told me, it would never be his nature to misuse what he could pick up out of a person's head. You know Edward better than I do, so I think you know this. What you don't know, is what I'm capable of. You might be able to hide your mind from Edward, but I'm afraid you can't hide your eyes from me, even though you're making a good attempt at it."

I saw the momentary flash of alarm on Jane's face. "I don't know what you mean?"

"Why do you need contact lenses Mrs Taylor? Vampires have perfect eyesight."

"I'm not wearing contact lenses." Jane snapped.

"You are. You're wearing red contacts. I'm guessing that your eyes are still gold. But that's not all. You worry me; even through the contacts I can see the emotional turmoil that you're in and that's bad."

"You can't see anything!" Jane asserted.

"Oh she can," replied Ness. "She worked me out on a park bench in San Francisco."

"I can't bear it when people get themselves knotted up and lost inside. Continued Heather.

"I am not lost" Jane snapped. "I am the CEO of the Solace Foundation!"

"You're a woman in pain and if you'll just admit to why, then the pain will go."

"I am not in pain! Vampires do not feel pain!"

"I'm not talking about physical pain; this is all in your head. Let go of Renate's hand and let Edward see your thoughts."

"I don't have to put up with this!" Jane turned to go yanking Renate with her.

"Jane?" Jess said quietly.

Jane glanced at Jess, there was a blur and Jane was standing right in front of Jess, still connected to Renate who Jane had dragged with her.

"What was _that?_" Jane gasped.

"Me." Jess said. "I'm a vampire magnet, who knew. Take your contact lenses out or I will take them out for you, with your eyeballs still attached."

"Renate, go and wait for me in the car." Said Jane.

"But you told me not to let go of you?"

"Wait for me in the car!" Renate let go of Jane's hand and the vampire walked quickly out of the room.

Jane waited until she heard the door close than then she dabbed at her eyes.

"They _are_ gold." Said Jess softly. "Jane, what the fuck is going on?"

"I couldn't come back!" I saw Dan scoot down the stairs and out from behind Ness and Jake.

"What do you mean you couldn't come back?" He said. In his arms newborn Sophie was giving little squeaks.

"You wouldn't want me."

"What? Whatever gave you that idea?"

"I killed those people."

"Yeah, and? You'd been doing that for over a thousand years, it didn't make me love you any less."

"I was dangerous to you!"

"Do you want to kill me now?"

"No."

"Well then, that was a big fat lie you told yourself, wasn't it?"

Jane crossed her arms over her chest and stood there as if she were trying to hold herself together. She said nothing and stared at a point on the floor in front of Dan's feet.

"She's struggling to find the words," said Edward. "She wants me to say them. Jane has spent the last six months convincing herself that she's not worth anyone's love. She messed up what she had and believed that Dan wouldn't love her because of what she'd done. She believed that he wouldn't be able to cope with her true nature when she slipped. She's thrown herself into her work and become what Jess has accused her of being: A cold, heartless bitch. You only lapsed the once though didn't you?" Edward continued. Jane nodded. "And you've tried to block him out in the hope that he'd find someone else." Jane nodded. "He didn't Jane, he couldn't; he loves you too much. If you don't believe my words I can get Ness to show you." Jane shook her head.

"You are the only person I want. I love you!" Dan's voice was raspy and his cheeks were already wet with tears.

"But you're with Stacey now." Jane's face was a mask of anguish.

"No he's not," said Jake. "He just shared a room with her for a night. We were above it and can assure you it was one long argument about him not being willing to do what Stacey expected."

"I thought vampires mated for life." Dan sniffed. "When you went…" He fumbled with Sophie, suddenly wanting his hands. Rose was instantly there, taking the little baby from him, her eyes looking like she'd won a prize.

"Oh my goodness, she's so gorgeous!" Rose looked adoringly at the little baby girl.

"Don't drink her." Said Dan, wiping his eyes with the palms of his hands.

"You should have more faith in me." Rose admonished him.

Dan and Jane were only a few feet apart.

"So, do you want to come back?" Asked Dan, wiping yet more tears away.

"Yes. There isn't a moment where I haven't." Jane whispered.

Dan held his right hand out to her. She held hers out to him.

"No, your other one."

"What?"

"Give me your left hand."

Jane held it out to him and he dug in his jeans pocked and pulled out a plaited silver ring. He went to put it on her finger, but she pulled her hand away.

"We're not married anymore."

"Yes we are."

"No, we're not, you signed the divorce papers, Lombardi told me."

"Well he didn't check them. I'd call your legal department and get them to send you a photo of my signature. As far as I know, you weren't married to Daffy Duck."

"No, you married stupid as fuck." Jess shot back. A ripple of relived laughter went around the room.

"So it's… not legal?" Jane looked close to tears.

"I don't know, but I didn't want a divorce and it was the only thing I could think of doing that would tell you that I didn't want it." He held her wedding ring out to her. "I believe this is yours Mrs Taylor." Jane held her hand out and this time Dan slipped the ring onto her finger. He took her left hand in his.

"You're still wearing yours." She said.

"I've never taken if off. Unlike most of my species, I mate for life." Dan pulled her in and wrapped his arms tightly around her. He looked over to Jess, a long-absent twinkle back in his eye. "Stupid as fuck? Is that the best you can do? You're losing your touch girl; you're going soft in your vampirehood."

"I'll give you that one." Jess said and walked over to Jane and Dan. Dan released Jane as she approached. "It's good to have you back, both of you. I've missed you." She hugged Jane. "I'm glad you're back where you belong. I'm sorry I had a go at you. " She turned to your brother. "And I'm just happier when you're being an arsehole." Jess shuddered. "OK, I'm going to try this…"

"You're not going to hug me are you?" Dan bristled.

"I… er… yes."

Dan put his hands up and backed off. "Ah… no. I thought we agreed never to do affection."

"Well, I'm willing to compromise on this occasion if you will."

"Ooh two nil to me. Lack of an at-the-gut attack _and_ an expression of capitulation? What are you, a vampire or a vole?

There was a blur and Jess had him bent back with a handful of his hair in her hand.

"Jess?" Will's tone was concerned.

Jess smiled benignly at her brother and then placed her cold hand on his exposed stomach. He collapsed in a laughing heap on the floor. Jess walked calmly over to Ness.

"So you're finally up then."

"You woke me with your yelling."

"That must make a change from Jake's snoring." There was laughter, Jake rolled his eyes and the two friends hugged fiercely.

"We're all together again." Esmé said "And by the looks of things we have more than Stephanie and Heather to welcome to the family and Jane and Dan to welcome back. Dan, would you like to say something?"

Dan and Jane were stood with their arms wrapped around one another.

"It's been an eventful night." Dan said.

"I'll second that." Said Charlie, looking at me.

Jane turned to me. "Oh! Sorry, I got distracted. I'll take care of Keeley." She turned back to Dan. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"No, let's do it together, but in a few minutes." Dan collected Sophie from Rose and Jane came to his side. "I don't know much Italian," he said. "But one phrase I can recognise is a cry for help. Guess I've been doing that a lot myself over the last few months. I'm sorry I've been a complete git and I know that all of you have been in touch at some point, letting me know that you still cared about me, even if I didn't care about myself. Anyway, tonight I saw this little girl being born and it woke me up, made me realise, that she had nobody in the world to take care of her, other than me. I couldn't leave her there, I'd walked away from every other part of my life, but something made me want to care for her. Thank goodness Carlisle turned up because I genuinely didn't know that to do."

"That's common to all fathers." Said Will. "Right Edward?

"Right, I did hunt for the instruction manual, but I couldn't find it either."

"It's not just fathers." Said Bella, I can assure you, we're equally as clueless."

"Good grief, how did I ever manage to reach adulthood?" Ness said wryly.

"Lucky for you, I knew how to change a diaper." Jake told her.

"That is some weird shit." Charlie griped.

"It was, actually." Jake deadpanned.

There was much laughter and Ness looked at Jake with incredulity. "I cannot believe you said that." She laughed and looked over to me. "This is what it's like all the time. You might want to bail now."

"I like it." I said sensing the relief that was rippling through the family. "But I think Dan was trying to say something before we ended up being introduced to the contents of your diaper."

"Which she only wore for ten days, anyhow."

"Jake, shut _up!_" Jake and Ness were grinning at each other. "Dan, carry on."

Dan was grinning. "I'd forgotten how much fun this was. So, well… this is Sophie. Her name's not very Italian, but I thought Sophie Taylor went better than Sophia Taylor."

"Where did the name come from?" Asked Jane.

"I've just always liked it. There's no great symbolism attached. Anyway, I've got myself into this situation and Jess is quite right, I haven't thought it through."

"We'll work it out." Said Esmé, "It's what we do. You can count me in to help care for her."

"And me!" Said Rose.

"And me, this'll be easier because I can see her future." Said Alice.

"You can count all of us in, but I think your go-to guy on this one's going to be Daniel." Said Carlisle.

"I have a little experience." Daniel smiled.

"Didn't you do the whole Stay at Home Dad thing?" Asked Charlie.

"I did."

"Well then, you're the expert."

"I'd like to have a go." Said Jane, hesitantly.

"I was hoping you'd say that." Replied Dan and kissed her on her forehead. "Would you like to hold her?"

Jane nodded and Dan passed the little girl to his wife. Jane bounced her gently for a moment and then her face fell. "What is that _smell_?" Dan leant forward and sniffed.

"More weird shit?" Asked Charlie.

"No, just the ordinary stuff." Dan replied, grinning.

"I'll change her!" Rose jumped up. "You two go and take Keeley away."

That evening, while I'd been out of the room, someone had been in, remade the bed, removed the blood-stained sheets and clothes and aired the room. I got in bed and closed my eyes. Daniel lay down beside me. He ran his finger over the dressing on my neck. I turned to him and opened my eyes again.

"I'm so sorry." He said, softly.

"It's OK, I'm just tired. Do you mind if I go to sleep? It's been a long night."

"Not at all. Do you mind if I stay with you?"

"No, I'd like that." I thought back over the night. "I love your family by the way."

"I'm glad, I love them too. It feels right again. It hasn't felt right since Christmas."

"And now there's a new baby."

"I know, twenty of us."

"I didn't get to tell Jess about the whole thing."

"You can tell her when you wake. Sleep well, I'll be here."

I wriggled down under the covers and surrendered myself to sleep.


	26. Chapter 26

**Chapter Twenty Six: Sex and the Civil War**

The sound of running water woke me. A glance at the clock on the nightstand told me it was four thirty five in the morning and through the slats in the blinds I could see that it was already fully light. The water made me realise that I urgently needed the bathroom.

I got up, wrapped my robe round myself and wandered into the toilet, still half asleep. I did what I needed to, washed my hands, wandered out again, caught a glance at the shower and stopped dead in my tracks. I wasn't entirely sure what the seven wonders of the world were, but my boyfriend's ass must surely be one of them. Daniel was rinsing off and I watched mesmerised as water cascaded over the contours of his body. He shut the water off, slicked his hair back and wrapped a towel around his waist.

"I didn't mean to wake you." He said, grabbing another towel and stepping out of the shower.

"I needed the bathroom." I drawled. He came close and my happy, relaxed, state was accentuated by the sight of his body and getting a lungful of his scent. I ran my hands over his chest and I could see that this might quickly become one of my favourite past-times. It took me a second to realise what was odd. "You're warm!" I exclaimed. He looked a little nervous. "What's the matter?"

"I've come straight from a hunt and warmed up as much as I can. I'm hoping that this might… help." My thoughts about what that might help with sent my heartbeat into overdrive. I knew the difficulty that caused him, so I tried to breathe more slowly and calm myself. It didn't help and neither did Daniel untying my robe and pushing it from my shoulders. A bubble of shocked laughter escaped my lips as he scooped me up. The next thing I knew I was being lowered gently back onto the bed. He kissed me and I responded to the chemicals his lips sent though me, grabbing handfuls of his damp hair and trying to pull his face closer to mine. I tried to encourage him by pulling him on top of me but there was no way, I couldn't move him. I broke off the kiss to gasp for air and he moved back enough for me to seize the opportunity to pull off my top. But I caught my elbow on his chest, so any feeling of growing intimacy was ruined by me clasping my elbow and massaging it better.

My last intimate encounter with a vampire was not something I'd wanted at all. I hadn't responded to Keeley's advances the way I wanted to respond to Daniel's. This was completely the opposite. I wanted to be touched by him, I wanted to be loved by him and I hoped more than anything that he wanted that too.

"I haven't done this in a while," he said softly. "This might not be the most elegant of attempts."

"I don't care." I stroked his face. It was still as hard as diamonds, but diamonds that had been warmed by the sun.

He rolled back and pulled me on top of him. I sat up and closed my eyes as warm, solid hands that I'd been so eager to have touching me explored my breasts and stomach. He reached up and pulled me back down, guiding my mouth back to his and topping me up with another hit of vampire narcotic. I lay along his chest, feeling his body grow in warmth with mine. His hands ran the length of my back and where my shorts started, his hand slipped beneath the waistband. I tried to push them down. Daniel caught on to what I was attempting to do, took hold of them and ripped them clean off. My eyes flew open in shock as I heard the fabric tear.

"Oops." He said; a look of amusement in his eyes. "I'll buy you a new pair."

Having my clothes ripped off only served to intensify my desire and I kissed him as hard as I could. The towel was still around his hips. As I tried to tug that off I noticed that my efforts weren't being helped by me sitting on it. And _he_ was the one apologising for being out of practice! The TV-fed image of how sex with a vampire should be - all perfectly co-ordinated heaving bodies - and the reality of us two being every bit as clumsy as new couples usually are, made me laugh. It broke the mood but Daniel didn't seem to mind.

He cupped my face in his hands. "What are you laughing at?"

"Us, being out of practice. I'm trying to get your towel off and there's no way to do it seductively."

"We can always start again. We have all day."

I sat up and he placed his hands under my breasts, running his thumbs back and forth underneath them. It was a very simple thing but his fingers felt so good! I wondered if the strange substance was present in the rest of him too. I cast my eyes over his chest as he lay on the bed beneath me and followed my eyes with my fingers, feeling his smoothness and solidity. He was glorious and he was mine!

He cooled off fairly rapidly and suggested that I join him in the shower where he could warm up again. I'd never been in a shower that seemed to have been designed specifically for things showers weren't usually designed for. I stood on the ledge that ran around the base of it. It put me at exactly the right height for us to kiss easily underneath the fierce stream of water. My hands ranged over him. His skin was as slick as wet glass and I found it hard to keep my hands from doing anything other than obeying gravity and slipping down to his bottom. This, I decided, was no hardship. Under his hands and his kisses I was becoming increasingly aroused. I was oblivious to what he was, I was simply with a man who was making me feel loved in a way no man had ever done before. I responded to the desire building within me and grabbed at his hips, making no secret of what I wanted, neither in my body language or the gasps of pleasure I was voicing. And then suddenly he was gone and I slumped to the floor of the shower panting. I couldn't see anything in the steamy cubicle, so I shut the water off and grabbed a towel from the stack on the far side. I stepped out and the difference in temperature made my skin raise goose bumps. He was nowhere in the bathroom. I went through to the bedroom and Alice was there.

"That was close!" She said holding her hand to her midriff and looking wild-eyed with shock.

"He nearly bit me?"

"He nearly killed you."

"Oh." My hair was dripping onto the carpet. Alice flitted for another towel and patted it gently dry.

"Did you know you have two scents?"

"No."

"There's the scent of your blood and the scent of you." When you become a vampire you lose your blood scent and your intrinsic scent is heightened and becomes how we identify one another. To be around you he focusses on your intrinsic scent and he was doing really well. But then you stepped it up a gear and there was no way he could ignore the call of your blood."

"Where is he?"

"He's in the kitchen." I moved to go to him, but Alice stopped me. "I'll send him back. Look, what you're attempting is tough, even for vampires like Edward who'd been on animal blood for over eighty years. Daniel's only a year into this. I know how you're feeling, but if you want to try and make this work, you're going to have to rein it in. Relax, be _very_ calm and work with him to discover the point at which he's comfortable. Beyond that," Alice looked at me gravely. "You won't survive."

Alice left and I sat down on the bed, thinking about what she'd just said. There were boundaries, I could see that. This wasn't going to be easy but I wasn't going to quit. We'd work at it, we'd find the point where we could be intimate and me still be safe; or as safe as you could be when the love of your life was a vampire.

There was a movement at the corner of my eye and he was suddenly standing there. He knelt down in front of me.

"I'm sorry. Seems like I'm saying that a lot recently."

"We're both new to this; you need to show me where the boundary is." He nodded imperceptibly. I held his face in my hands and lifted it so that he was looking at me. "If most of that was the right side of the line, then I'm not going to feel deprived." I'd been very close to my own tipping point. "Alice explained about my two scents. You learn something every day huh?" I smiled encouragingly and stroked his hair.

"As long as I focus on your intrinsic sent I'm fine. But when you got aroused..." He trailed off.

"I know. Alice told me to relax."

"And the stronger and faster your heart beats, the more it pulls me in" I could see he was growing in anxiety.

I stood up and held out my hand. "Let's go back to bed."

We lay back down and started from first principles. Talking, looking, kissing and touching one another. There were no heaving bodies; there was only tenderness, intimacy and discovering how each other responded. Fighting against the drug in his lips was my own battle, but one I was willing to take on if it meant that I could spend hours doing this; and we did spend hours at it.

"What scent do I have?" I asked. His right index finger was circling my nipple. He smiled and kissed it. He inhaled deeply.

"Scents are complex and like perfumes they have notes. Sometimes the floral notes are the strongest, sometimes the spice, the wood or the citrus. Everyone has a unique scent. Will for instance is almost exclusively woody. More specifically, his scent is raindrops on ferns. Carlisle's scent is mainly spice. Bella is strongly floral, freesias and roses. Edward is oranges and sunlight. Ness is supposed to smell of apple blossom and pear trees; but she eats so much chocolate that she mostly gives off cacao." He smiled.

I thought of what I consumed a lot of. "Do I smell of coffee beans?"

He laughed. "No. I don't think I've ever met anyone whose scent more perfectly matches them. Your scent is night jasmine and moonflowers."

"Really?" I thrilled.

"Yes, really. You smell of the night. It's beautiful, it's the scent I love the most in the world. "So what scent do I have to you?" He smiled.

I blushed and instantly covered my cheeks with my hands. But this time Daniel didn't move away. "Are you OK?" I asked, concerned.

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"You didn't move back."

"Coping with a blush is… easy now I know I can do it."

"Practice makes perfect?"

He smiled. "Yes. Anyway, I know why you blushed; I know what you've been doing."

"Calvin Klein Eternity for men?" I'd assumed it came out of a bottle, I had no idea that this glorious scent came from him.

"You'd done well to get that close. So which bits are you picking out that are me?"

"I don't know." I stroked his neck. "I didn't know there'd be a test."

"Go on, smell, what do you get?"

I leaned into his neck and inhaled. I closed my eyes, tried to concentrate and pick out individual notes. I shook my head. "I don't know."

"Breathe in again with your mouth open. Taste the scent as you would a wine."

"I'm scent tasting now? You're a bottle of wine?"

"Let's not do the bottle of wine analogy, that's not helpful."

"Can I be a nice chianti? I have some fava beans at home." I giggled, parodying the film line.

Suddenly he was on top of me; his hands interlaced with mine and pinned down either side of my head. He'd forced my legs apart and was kneeling between them. I was powerless to hit or kick and if he wanted me to keep calm there was absolutely no way I was going to manage to do that, my heart was racing. I was panic-eyed as I stared up into his dangerous gold ones. He planted a kiss on my forehead, moving slowly down, kissing my nose, my lips and my chin. But he didn't stop he kept going and kissed down my throat. His lips moved across to where my carotid artery was frantically forcing blood and adrenaline into my brain. He held me in a state of abject fear for what felt like forever, before releasing me and gathering me to him in an embrace. He let me rest back on the pillows. My eyes were anxious, his were regretful.

"I so very nearly killed you earlier." He said softly. "And had it not been for Bella's bravery before that, you could've been in the throes of conversion right now. Doing that to you wasn't a smart thing and I'm sorry for scaring you. But I don't want to you to underestimate the risk of this. It may be fun to joke, but if anything happened and I killed you, then I'd be the vampire version of Dan and for all eternity. Please let me keep you safe and please let me focus on the moonflowers and night jasmine, rather than the Chianti, which I'm trying so very hard not to think about." He wiped away the tear that had blossomed in my eye. "I love you so much, but my reality isn't your reality, so I need to respect the points beyond which I can't go." He sighed. "Sorry, I fucked up a beautiful moment there."

I placed my hand on his cheek. "I'm sorry too. They make this look easier in _Vampire Nights_."

"Yeah. TV has a lot to answer for."

"How did Jess and Will manage?"

"Will's been on animal blood for well over fifteen years. I've managed a year."

"Do you think you should ask?"

"That would be an awkward conversation. Asking for sex tips isn't something that comes easy to guys; vampire or human."

I kissed his cheek. On the night stand my phone beeped with an incoming text message. It was the alert I'd set up for my new family, for messages that should not be read if I was in public. I ignored it.

"You should get that. It might be Esmé, it's approaching lunchtime."

I grabbed the phone, read the message and creased up in laughter. I turned the screen to Daniel. He read it and chuckled.

"Thanks Edward!" He called.

"He's only trying to help."

"I know but… jees." He was silent for a good few seconds.

"So, are you going to try it?"

"I don't know. What do you think?"

"I'm on the pill and have been for years."

"It's not that I'm worried about. Doing it that way doesn't seem fair to you."

"You know when we were in the shower earlier? You got me so close that if we work on that, then maybe that's how it has to be for me, until you feel stronger. I'm willing to give it a go if you are."

"OK." He said. "Relax."

That had taken time to achieve. Now he was lying on top of me and I'd wrapped my legs around him but we weren't looking at one another. However, it was impossible to not think about what he was about to attempt. But if this was to work, I needed to be as calm and unengaged with the whole process as it was possible for me to be. This was going to be an exercise in how calm I could keep myself.

"Look at the ceiling." He said.

"There's nothing to look at, it's perfectly smooth." My body rocked along with his chuckle.

"Where are the cracks in the ceiling when you need them? Think about grading. I know how much you love grading." I groaned. "That's it, you dropped three beats."

"Jess gave me her last paper. I should read that."

"That's a great idea!" He said and before I knew it Jess's paper was in my hand and Daniel was lying between my legs again. I secured mine back around him.

I opened it. "Oh great, yet more stuff Will and Jasper clearly re-wrote for her. I should re-grade all her…_Oh!_" He was in me and the shock of how different he felt took my breath away.

"Concentrate on the paper." His voice was ragged and I prayed he was focussing on the flowers and not the wine. "Stephanie read!" he urged. But I couldn't get my heart to even start to calm down. He slid out of me.

"I'm sorry! It's so intense." I gasped, almost tearful. "You feel so different."

"It feels different for me too." He held me close again. There wasn't much warmth left in his body and the chill of him made me shiver. "We should try again another day."

"No." I said softly and kissed him. "One more try."

As I relaxed on the bed attempting to calm my heart, he took another shower. He'd come to the conclusion that I needed to aim for boredom; although it was nigh-on impossible to be bored about making love to Daniel when all I wanted to do was get excited and give everything I had to it. I reached for Jess's paper and he wandered back over to bed from the shower. "This looks suitably boring; by the time I get to paragraph four I'll be virtually asleep."

He smiled and doing nothing to arouse me settled himself between my legs again and I wrapped mine around his hips. I kept reading, concentrating on Jess's words.

"Read it out loud this time." He said, "We can be bored together."

I chuckled and started to read. "Power was one of the causes of the tension between the two sides. By 1850, only a third of the US population lived in the South and more states were becoming non-slave states. The South was losing its power in the government and no longer had an effective voice. After Abraham… _Oh my God!_" I exclaimed. He was in me again and it was no less shocking than the first time.

"Keep reading!" He urged.

"Um…" I tried to focus. "Abraham Lincoln, a republican who was… _oh_! Determined to keep slavery from spreading, was… _ah_! Elected, South… Carolina seceded from… _ouch_! the Union. The rest of the South foll.. _aaah_! followed. The tension between the two _ow! ow!_ Sides… grew and …_Jesus!_ a little miscommunication… _oh!_ sparked the …. _Oh my…"_ It was no good I couldn't go on. I hurled the paper aside, threw my arms around him, ducked my head down against his chest and held on as if my life depended on it – which in many ways it probably did.

It was shocking. If I ever forgot for one second that my boyfriend was not human, this would be the reminder. I kept my face firmly pressed to his shoulder, well away from his mouth and hands which from the sound of it were tearing chunks out of the head board and mattress. How I could ever expect to share in this experience I didn't know. This was primal. Now I understood why Jess had landed in hospital. His chest pinned me down, but with the ferocity at which he was working I could already feel it was causing friction burns on my back. A sudden pop and a sharp pain in my chest told me that a rib had gone; but I didn't dare cry out, in case I did something that was fatal to me. I clung on, prayed for deliverance and wondered what on earth had ever given me the idea that I could cope with this?

It ended in tearing violence with splinters of wood from the headboard, feathers from the pillows and wadding from the mattress raining down by the side of me. But at the end Daniel was quiet and still and I was in shock.

There were low voices. Daniel withdrew from me, grabbed a blanket from further down the bed and gently wrapped me up in it.

"Carlisle's going to check you over." He said gently. "Once again, I'm sorry."

Carlisle taped up my broken rib. That and the friction burn on my back were my only injuries; everything else was right where it should be - apart from my naiveté which I'd left stuck to the mattress. I could of course expect to be sore internally for a few days. Carlisle wanted to do a pregnancy test too, just to make sure. Of course he knew what we'd been doing and how I'd gotten injured, but he was so reassuring and understanding, that I began to see the benefits of Doctors having over three hundred years practice at getting their bedside manner right.

"Do you want to see Daniel?" He asked when he'd finished.

"Of course."

"He will understand if you don't."

"I do."

Carlisle left the room and Daniel entered it. As he approached I held out my hand. "Don't say 'I'm sorry'." I said. "You've already said that."

"What can I say?"

I looked at him; there was deep anguish in his eyes. "You can tell me that you love me."

"That's a given."

"I still want to hear it."

"I love you."

"Again."

There was a tiny smile at the corner of his mouth. "I love you."

"Again."

"I love you!"

"That's better. And again."

"I love you. Look, where's this going?" He laughed.

"Well, hopefully all the way to an altar, but it's not a leap year so I can't ask you."

The statue was back again. "After what I did?"

"Yes."

"But I hurt you."

"Not intentionally. You made love to me."

"I attacked you."

"No, you attacked a bed, I'm a little shocked but mostly fine. How are you?"

"The same," he looked embarrassed. If he could blush I'm sure would be doing. He dropped his voice. "Things don't respond like they used to."

"Oh?"

He sat down next to me. "You know they give you the zero to sixty speeds of cars?"

"Yes."

"Well, just for comparison; as a human, say you'd do zero to sixty in 10 seconds. OK?"

"Yes."

"Now? That was zero to sixty in zero point three of a second. It was just _there_ and I didn't know how to control it. But I've spoken to Will and he says it gets easier the… more you do it. So I hope I'll be better… next time. If you want there to be a next time, that is?"

I smiled. "Of course I do. But not for a few weeks OK?" I pointed to my chest. "Another broken rib."

Daniel lifted me down off the examination table and hand in hand we walked slowly back into the kitchen area. To the right, some of them were in the pool and I tried not to stare as the sunlight refracted in rainbows off their skin and onto the walls of the courtyard. At the table, Charlie, Heather, Jake, Ness and Dan were sat eating lunch. Jane was sat next to Dan and she was gazing at him like some love-struck ninth grader. She'd changed her clothes. Gone was the business suit and in its place a strappy summer dress. Her facial expression had changed too and she looked again like the happy, bouncy Jane that I'd met back at the viewpoint all those months ago. Dan too had changed. He was still desperately thin and paler than any human should be, but he was wearing a smile and one that I'd seen before. It was the smile he'd had on his face at the end of last year when they'd recently married. It was also the smile I now understood of a human whose system was coursing with vampire lip narcotic. I sat down and Dan rolled a tube of the lip balm across to me.

"I borrowed yours. Forgot to bring mine with me." He said. I noticed then that his lips had an amusing purple tinge. I smiled; so it wasn't just us girls who had difficulties kissing their vampire other halves.

Just then there was a flash of light outside, followed by stunned silence from the people around the pool.

Charlie however, didn't miss a beat. "Think your Dad's here." He said to Heather.

"It's very quiet out there," She replied. "I hope nobody's too stunned. He does make a bit of an entrance."

I looked outside and took in the jaw-dropping sight of an angel, his wings wholly unfurled and possibly eight, maybe nine feet across at their maximum. Alice and Rose were stroking them. I chuckled at the expression on Alice's face.

"No, Alice has got wing envy." I said.

"He's something isn't he?" Said Heather smiling broadly.

"Yes." I said, somewhat awed; as like umbrellas, Kael's wings retracted into his body.

"I'm glad he's come over." Said Ness, "He can give his side of the story."

"Oh yes," I said "I still need to tell Jess what's been going on."

"After lunch." Said Jake biting into a turkey drumstick. "Eat." He pointed to the food.

"You've got to keep your strength up if you want to hang around with this lot." Dan grinned at me.

"Yes, about that." Jane reached across for the plate of pizza. "Eat more." She dropped two slices onto her husband's plate.

"I've got enough."

"You _need_ to eat more."

"I'm doing the best I can. What's this obsession with getting me to stuff my face?"

"You're too thin."

"Yeah well, I lost my appetite."

Jane whispered something in his ear, to which Dan's eyes popped open and he turned scarlet. Daniel tried hard not to laugh and failed.

"Thanks for the tip." Jane said to Ness.

"You're welcome." Replied Ness.

"Will somebody _please_ tell me what's going on?" Said Charlie.

"Keeping your man well fed has benefits in the bedroom." Said Jake nonchalantly. "Why do you think I eat like a horse?"

"I thought it was because of all phasing into a wolf and running around you do?"

"Well some of it, yes. But there's more than one animal in our bedroom and she takes some keeping up with." Jake grinned.

"I really don't need to know that."

"But I thought you were the world expert on Ness, Charlie?" There was a ripple of laughter around the table at Charlie's discomfiture. "Anyway, eat up; we have a story to tell."

"I've lost my appetite." Sighed Charlie.


	27. Chapter 27

**Chapter Twenty Seven: Vampires, Wolves, Angels and Humans.**

The living room looked like the supernatural world's equivalent of the United Nations. I sat at the head of the sofa horseshoe, the centre of a story that had largely played out away from my eyes. In that respect, all that I had seen had been the tip of the iceberg. For me, it had started with a note on my desk last October; but that hadn't been the real start of things. Carlisle decided that the root lay with the vampires many hundreds of years ago. He started the story.

"It's probably helpful if I put things in context and give the background to this for those of you who don't know the whole story. I knew when I was first with the Volturi and Jane will back me up on this; that when my choice of lifestyle became known, that it wouldn't result in many friends. In any sphere, if you're different that challenges people. Sometimes it's a good challenge and they come to see things from your point of view. At other times they feel that what you're doing is an affront to them. Killing humans for their blood is instinct for vampires and many never question what their instincts tell them to do. Many vampires also relish the lives they lead. Stephanie, you saw that first hand in Keeley. She's entirely out for what she can get and that is the over-riding trait of any vampire. We are at our core, incredibly selfish beings."

"Vampires do not have exclusivity on selfishness." Added Heather. "It's present in all of us, regardless of species."

"True, but it finds its most graphic manifestation in us. Aro, for instance. Stephanie, you haven't met him yet, but…"

"You're not missing anything." Interjected Jane. "He's hands down the biggest ego in history."

"Aro's the one who came to get Ness in San Francisco?" I asked, piecing together the names and the situations. "The one who declared himself King?"

"Yes," said Carlisle. "And that's not the first time he'd tried to take Ness away from us. What Aro wants, Aro takes; or did until he went too far and his whole empire disintegrated around him. He's taking what he calls a sabbatical at the moment …"

"But in reality it's Sulpicia getting him to sit on the naughty step." Jane added. "After twelve hundred years of being at his beck and call, I can tell you it's a heady experience being the one that orders Aro around. Sorry Carlisle, please continue."

"Aro." Carlisle continued. "Is the reason Jane ended up in the Volturi. Aro looked at humans and wanted a family, so he went out and put one together; choosing Jane and her twin brother Alec to be his children. But that didn't work. As you've seen, Jane has her own abilities and Alec did too. They didn't fall meekly into line as Aro wanted and so they ended up becoming part of his guard."

I wondered why, if he was Jane's twin brother that I'd not met Alec, or why I hadn't heard him mentioned before.

"Stephanie's wondering about Alec." Edward added.

Jane angled herself towards me. "When Aro's empire collapsed, I was still here in Italy with the Volturi, but struggling to deal with my feelings for Dan. Until I met him, I'd spent over a thousand years hunting down vampires who had allowed humans to know of our existence. Sometimes I even hunted down those humans. When Aro's empire collapsed I took my chance to run, but Alec came after me and tried to force me back. I knew I wanted more than to be Aro's puppet, so I fought Alec and killed him. I'm not proud of that, but I realise that love makes you do strange things. Until I met Dan, I could never see the fascination vampires had with any human. And then one day, there he was; the most beautiful man I'd ever seen, walking into Charlie Swan's living room and inviting me out for coffee."

Jess started sniggering. "Twelve hundred years and he's the best out there? Bloody hell, things are getting desperate."

"You know what Jess?" Said Jane. "It may seem odd to you that I fell for your brother, but I've been around a long time and nobody ever looked at me with so much as a hint of attraction before. I was always the scary little girl. Vampires came, vampires paired up and vampires went from the Volturi citadel; but never once did any man give me a second glance. When I met Dan, I thought it was too good to be true. I spent ten short months living the dream. When I messed up, I spent six very long months convincing myself, off the back of twelve hundred years of experiencing loneliness that I was right - no one would ever want to be with me. So forgive me if I take this second chance and hold fast to your brother for the rest of eternity. You can tell me about desperation, when you've been trapped in the body of a fourteen year old girl for over a millennia."

"I'm sorry." Jess said regretfully.

"I love him Jess and together we're going to try and be good parents to Sophie. As you're doing a great job with Ben, I hope you'll help us."

Jess rushed to embrace her sister in law. "I'm glad he's found someone who loves him as much as you do. Anyway, sorry; I hijacked what you were telling Stephanie." Jess sat back down.

Jane returned her attention to me. "Because Aro couldn't achieve what he wanted, his envy of humans turned into loathing and that attitude spread out through all of us. We were taught to regard humans as a second class species. So when Carlisle came along with his unusual lifestyle choice, he was treated as an oddity. When he left the Volturi, Aro was convinced that he wouldn't manage to adhere to his warped notion and would revert to our ways. But he didn't. He controlled his thirst and trained as a Doctor. He then confounded all of us by getting a job. Where we were seizing money by force and extortion, Carlisle was out earning it and quietly subsuming himself into humanity. We were aware of a small group of others who had also chosen this way of life, but Aro dismissed them all as oddities and ignored them.

"But on others Carlisle made more of an impression. For most of my time I was content to live my life as a traditional vampire, I never questioned what I did. Only when I met Dan did it become imperative that I adopt this way of life in order to have what I wanted. As you can see, I'm as selfish as anyone else. But for others it comes much earlier and for different reasons. Jasper? I think you're best placed to talk about that."

Jasper sat forward. "I was many thousands of miles away and until one night in 1863 I'd never so much as let the notion of vampires enter my head. All that changed when I found myself ripped from one world at war and pulled into another world at war. The vampire community is, as Carlisle and Jane have both said, deeply selfish. In the south of the United States it's a constant battle for hunting territory. It's not as prevalent as it was back in the 1860s but it's still there. As you know I can sense and control emotions. When Keeley attacked you I sensed your terror and that is an emotion I have felt thousands of times from the people I have killed. Vampires are not robots, we think and we feel just as you do. Being able to sense all that terror made me depressed, more so because I felt trapped in the life I was living. I tried to stop killing but I couldn't do so entirely. However, I did manage to reduce it. When I broke away from the life of war in the south, I wandered as a nomad for nearly forty years. And then one day, I met Alice and she told me things that I didn't believe at first. She told me that there was another way to live, a way that had not occurred to me. But it's not easy; some of us struggle at it. Some of us make several attempts before it works and that's true of almost everyone here. Even _Edward_ slipped up."

There was a laugh. "I've never claimed I was perfect." Said Edward.

"No, that's true. And all credit to you that you coped with a singer when some of us didn't."

"Yeah, my Dad rocks!" Called Ness, punching her first in the air.

"Oh great, the Edward Cullen fan club." Sighed Emmett.

"You're just jealous of his awesomeness." Goaded Ness.

"You're just sadly deluded." Retorted Emmett good-naturedly. "And let's not even start on that whole psychic freakery you two have going on there. That's some weird father-daughter shit and no mistake." Emmett grinned at his niece. Ness made a 'w' sign with her hands. "And you can stop with the 'whatever' sign, Miss."

Jess and Dan collapsed in laughter.

"Keep up Em." Edward said, smirking. "It doesn't stand for 'whatever' in England."

"What _does_ it stand for?" Emmett was suddenly not laughing. There was a blur from Jess and she appeared in front of him with an enormous dictionary.

"Page nineteen ninety nine, first column, eleventh word." She said handing the book to Emmett. She looked at Ness. "Do you think you should start running?"

Ness shook her head, "Nope." She was triumphant.

Emmett shut the book with such a bang that it made me jump. His face was one of shock.

"Edward, I think you need to have with a word with your daughter about appropriate language." Emmett was stern.

"I don't think so. Let's face it Em, it's something we've all seen you doing, so she's using very appropriate language." Ness flitted over and high-fived her Dad. "Thanks kid; it only took me seventy three years to get to this point."

Emmett looked suddenly worried. "Oh… this isn't what I think it is, is it?"

Edward's eyes flashed with mischief. "You mean payback time? Oh yeah."

Bella groaned.

"Boys will be boys…" Added Rose.

Emmett clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Bring it on!"

"Will they ever grow up? Glowered Alice.

Carlisle sighed. "I'm beginning to think not. Teenagers…" He rolled his eyes. "Sorry Stephanie. This isn't getting to the point. Perhaps Edward can break off from his victory celebrations and carry on?"

Edward pulled Bella to him and looked over to me. "Carlisle disappeared from Aro's notice and worked his way around America, discovering what this new life could consist of. He realised that in more temperate climates, it was easier for him to develop a life that was more in line with humans.

"As you know from the short time that you've been with Daniel, he found it hard to keep so much of his life hidden from you. It's loneliness that drives vampires to let humans into their world, the very thing that Jane was charged with making sure didn't happen. So first with me and then shortly after with Esmé, Carlisle set about putting together not a vampire _coven_, but a vampire _family_. He chose those who were close to death. To the three of us he added Rose and Emmett in the 1930s. You know that Alice and Jasper joined us in the 1950s and that's how it stayed, until one day, nearly ten years ago now, someone new turned up at Forks High." Edward kissed Bella. "That's when things started to change. I fell for someone who was very alive and very set on discovering what I was. Sorry Jake."

"No problem, I handled it." Jake and Edward grinned at one another.

Rose leaned forward to me. "There's a whole book between these two, if you're really unlucky they'll tell you."

Edward continued. "So for the first time we were faced with someone who was choosing to join us and that's when Aro started to get interested in what Carlisle was doing. Bella and the mere existence of our family was a threat, because here was something that was holding together not by force, but by love. We choose to stay, we choose this life and our choices bind us even more tightly together than anything force can achieve. Bella joining us he could cope with, it completed our eight. But what happened next, he could not."

"Little baby, big trouble." Emmett grinned.

Edward continued. "Ness's birth kicked wide open the debate about whether humans and vampires could or should co-exist. But I'm missing out a whole section and it's not my story to tell. Jake, do you want to add in how the Quileutes found themselves in all this?"

"Sure." Jake stretched out his long legs. "The Quileutes are a people whose history is an oral tradition. The stories are passed down from generation to generation. But there are some stories that not all the tribe know. There are some stories that are not just stories, they are our life. The Quileutes have always had magic in their blood and had come across vampires many years ago. Quite rightly, after they decimated the tribe, they feared them. They became our enemies. What very few of us were aware of, was that the proximity of vampires to Quileutes sets about a change in those of us with certain genetic markers. Our tribe is founded on wolf-lore and perhaps it's no surprise that when faced with the dangers presented by vampires, those Quileutes with the markers become wolves.

"In the early years of the twentieth century, another group of vampires arrived in our area, but this time they came not wanting to kill us, but to live alongside us. Carlisle and my Grandfather Ephraim Black brokered a treaty. In return for us not killing them or telling the pale-faces about them, they would keep off Quileute lands. The presence of vampires causes a corresponding number of Quileutes to develop the ability to phase into wolves. Carlisle and his family remained for a few years and then departed to live in Alaska for a while. They came back about a year or so before Bella arrived and set up their home in the house we have now. A few on the council still remembered the wolves from the first time, so when Carlisle reappeared, my father knew exactly what they were. With seven vampires now living in the area, it was only a matter of time before the Quileutes responded. Sam was first, then Jared, Paul, Embry and then me. Quil, Leah and Seth came later. We couldn't work out what Seth was doing there; after all there were seven vampires and eight wolves. But it looks like nature knew how things would turn out, even before we did. So, there we were; a pack of wolves, a family of vampires and Bella Swan smack in the middle."

"And an interesting tussle ensued." Said Alice.

"At this point I need to apologise." Said Charlie. "Edward, I'm sorry for being team Jake there for a while. I feel slightly traitorous about that now."

"That's OK Charlie, Jake looked after her well. Ness? Come here."

Across the room Ness was looking very like she was going to cry. At Edward's encouraging she got up and climbed on to Bella's lap, burying her head in her Mom's neck. Edward embraced his family and quiet words were shared between them.

"What's the matter?" I said as quietly as I could to Daniel.

"Ness gets upset about the time Edward left Bella. It's all tangled up with the whole mess she went through last year."

"Pick it up after Ness was born." Said Esmé, we can save the rest for another time."

"Would you mind continuing?" Said Edward. He looked distressed.

"Not at all." Replied Esmé.

"Ness's birth galvanised Aro into acting." Esmé continued. "He wanted Ness and made plans, using a member of our own family against us, to charge us with creating an immortal child. Immortal children are different to hybrids. Ness and Ben grow and learn as any other children would do, through to adulthood - albeit at an accelerated rate. Vampires are frozen in time when they are changed and if that happens in a child, the child cannot think or reason like an adult. Immortal children are dangerous beyond belief and that was the premise of his visit. But we now know from Jane that he knew that Ness was no immortal child and he was more concerned about us gaining the upper hand from him. Aro's a bully. He wanted what we had and he set out to take Ness from us.

"What he didn't bet on was the numbers of those who would stand for us. He didn't factor in the tenacity of Alice and Jasper in going to track down what was no more than a rumour in the Amazon. More than that, he didn't know about the unbreakable bonds that are forged when a Quileute imprints. Jake and Ness are much more than boyfriend and girlfriend. When Ness was born something happened within Jake to bond himself to her. It's not really love at first sight, it's everything that he is. He laid it down at the feet of a baby who was no more than a few minutes old. Her birth and Jake's imprinting not only linked humans to vampires; but through Ness, vampires to the Quileute tribe. Once sworn enemies would now be eternally linked. So you see, Nessie really is very special, even though she never thinks she is.

"Jake imprinting on Ness brought with it the care and protection of all the wolves. They are sworn to protect the imprinted mates of their fellow pack members. So when Aro arrived, he found not only vampires standing against him, but wolves too."

"But we argued our case and won through." Said Emmett.

"Yes," said Carlisle. "But since then things have been festering and this is what you've have been drawn into Stephanie. Some vampires still don't like what we do here. They feel that this life is wrong and that vampires should remain above humans and not stoop to associate with them. Since Ness's arrival our family has grown, from nine to twenty and not all of us are vampires. We make no distinction about what species you are here. Vampire, human and wolf co-exist in one family and we love and protect one another regardless of that. That we are adding a nephilim does not sit well with those who do not agree with our existence. Kael? You know what's been happening better than anyone. Perhaps you'd like to explain how you became involved?"

All eyes turned to Heather's father sat beside her. "It's no wonder they're out to get you," he said. "You make peace efforts around the world look like they're not trying hard enough." Kael smiled and looked at me. "I have my own apologies to make to you Stephanie and I know that 'I'm sorry' is a phrase you've heard rather too much over the last couple of days. I hope this is the last time you hear it, but I'm sorry for my part in causing you and this family a lot of distress and worry over the last few months. I've wandered the planet for thousands of years and I completely identify with Jane, when she mentioned about being lonely for over a millennia. I've been more fortunate; I occasionally father children, which does mean that I have the company of their mothers for a while. But the desperate loneliness gets to you and so does the need for money. I'm cut off from where I should be and there's no great celestial ATM machine. Like you I have to work to earn my money. Sometimes I do legitimate jobs, other times I do things that I… shouldn't. It's always the way that my skills as a mind-reader and being able to get in and out of places while avoiding detection, can command a high price. Occasionally I succumb to someone with more money than sense. Because of that, I found myself in league with a vigilante vampire and a disgruntled wolf." Kael looked at me. "They'd realised that they couldn't break apart the bits that were already joined together. It would be useless trying to break up Ness and Jake or Edward and Bella. But they could stop new members of the family joining or unattached vampires forming relationships. So they focussed their attention on you and Daniel." Daniel pulled me closer. Kael continued. "In theory it was supposed to be quite simple: Frighten the human and she'll run away. And at times it worked; you did run away, and you did heed the warnings that we were giving you. But like some giant piece of elastic, the further we pulled you away from Daniel, the closer you sprang back and vice versa. The more we tried to stop Daniel, the harder he worked and the more the rest of them threw at us to try and stop what we were doing."

"So where do Jackson and Korvin fit into this?" I asked.

"Firstly, Jackson is Makah, not Quileute." Said Jake. "He came down to La Push about two years ago to stay with Tiffany Call, Embry's Mom. Nobody thought much about it at the time, but it would seem that Tiffany isn't the only one who's had a baby by a Quileute man. Jackson became good friends with Korvin, but with Daniel's arrival it meant that there would be another Quileute whose genetic marker activated. Jackson phased, Korvin didn't. Jackson for some reason couldn't connect to either of the packs; so for a long time we didn't know he was there. Neither did he know about us. So he didn't know the full story, he only knew half-remembered ones. He didn't know what was happening to him, so he did the only thing that he could do to stop himself going crazy: He told his best friend. So the two of them knew about the vampires and the wolves only from what they could glean. But they didn't know that we've moved on now and decided to adhere to things as they were, causing a whole lot of damage. Korvin was insanely jealous of Jackson. He wanted to be a wolf too and it's something he can't have. You have to be born with the ability, you can't just develop it. Soon after he phased, Jackson met up with Uriah the vigilante vampire who had decided to take it upon himself to 'deal' with the Cullens. Uriah was rich and that much money to a teen is very seductive. Jackson and Korvin were doubly useful because Korvin they could get at you through school. Korvin focussed on you because Jackson couldn't risk being the one who ended up behind bars. Jared had taken Jackson into his pack and has managed to establish a connection with him. I'm looking after Korvin. He can't phase but I've given him a job at the repair shop. I've included him on the council too, which will make him feel part of things and keep him on side. We can't risk him feeling alienated again. "But why would they be so up in arms about something as normal as this in the first place?" I asked. "This family's hardly on a land or power grab."

"It's fear of what they don't understand." Kael said. He was speaking to the family as a whole now. "You may want to live a quiet existence, have jobs, houses and increasingly, families; but that's garnering you enemies as betrayers of vampirism. Vampires don't do that. They don't have homes and take human women on dates. Vampires don't run house renovating businesses, stay at home and care for their children, work as Journalists, Doctors, Fashion Designers, Mechanics, Computer Engineers or yearn to be writers."

"Who's the writer?" Asked Jess.

"Me." Said Jasper.

"Why don't you?" Said Jess. Jasper sighed.

"He thinks he's not good enough." Said Alice. "But the poetry he writes for me is so beautiful and you know he's always telling stories."

"You should go for it!" Said Jess.

"Jess, I don't have the…"

"Confidence? Bollocks! Who of us does Ben insist does bedtime stories? And wants your made-up stories because they're better than the ones he reads in books? You don't think other people might want to read those stories too?"

"They're about vampires. I don't think the world needs any more stories about vampires."

"_What?_" Exclaimed Jess. "Vampire stories actually written by a vampire? Take it from me, the world would _love_ them! They'd be so authentic! Think of all the vampire wars tales you could tell! All the rest of the books out there are some crap about…oh… well, my life really..." Everyone laughed. "But that's not the _point!_" Jess shouted over the laughter. "The thing is Jasper, just because you're a vampire doesn't mean that you can't do what you really want to do. Carlisle's a Doctor. Day in, day out he deals with blood and he copes with it. All you need to cope with is a lack of self-belief. Write down those stories you tell Ben and send them to an agent, or self-publish even. Cullen Press, there you go, we can add publishing to our roster of companies."

"You make it sound so simple." Said Jasper,

"It is. Just write the bloody things and I'll send them off if you won't."

"You have quite the way with words Miss Taylor." Said Kael.

"I just tell it like it is."

"Marcus hasn't forgotten your comments by the way." Said Jane.

"What do you mean?"

"When you got drunk at our wedding reception and told him he looked like a miserable old bugger. I've spotted him with a smile on two occasions now."

She turned to Will. "Did I? I don't remember that."

"Yes, you did." He cupped her face with his hands. "My fearless Jess." He kissed her and immediately Jess was on him tearing at his clothes.

Dan groaned. "I could be scarred for life here. Get a room!" He shouted, shoving his sister until she broke off her kiss and snarled angrily at her brother. Will's hands whipped around her and Jasper was on his feet. "My, my, Snow White what big teeth you've got." Dan mocked. "You don't scare me, fang." He grinned.

"She's OK." Said Edward. "And then in all this you discovered something else didn't you Kael?" Edward's comment had everyone attentive.

"Yes. I hadn't seen my daughter for nearly twenty five years. As you know you get to a point where you can't carry on seeing them, it arouses too many questions. But there she was one day, simply walking across the parking lot to the supermarket. I thought long and hard about whether I should contact her and in the end I did. I've longed for someone to completely be myself around. Seeing the very easy way that Charlie dealt with his own family being vampires, gave me hope; that I might be able to be part of Heather's life too. Suddenly it wasn't about me doing a job; but indirectly hurting my own daughter. Hurt Stephanie and Daniel and that affects Edward, Bella, Ness and Jake. That in turn affects Charlie and then Heather. I could see how Charlie felt about her and I knew she felt the same way about him.

"If I stood any chance of revealing to her what I was, what she was and establishing a friendship with her, then she'd need to be well supported when I wasn't around. I knew that in this family she would be. So I went ahead and revealed myself to her and soon after bailed out of the arrangement with Uriah and Jackson. I went to see Edward and Bella and the rest you know. Being something other than human on this planet can be the loneliest thing. You have each other, that's precious, so I urge you to stick together."

"And you?" Said Carlisle. "Where's home for you?"

"I don't…"

"My house." Said Heather. "Anytime."

Kael took his daughter's hand and kissed it. "Thank you."

"No, thank _you._"

"For what?"

"Saying that Charlie feels the same way about me that I do about him."

"You should do something about that Dad." Bella said.

"I was working up to it. Now the surprise is all gone!" Charlie griped.

"I don't mind not having surprises." Said Heather.

"Well that's good then. So how about it?"

"Dad! Do it right, on your knees with a ring and everything!" Bella smacked her palm on her forehead and a chuckle went around the room.

"OK, I will," Charlie bristled. "But not right now. OK?"

"Oh I do love a happily ever after!" Smiled Esmé.

"Nobody knows if you're going to have a happily ever after, not even Alice. She can't see that far ahead." Said Jasper.

"But others can." Said Kael. "I took the liberty of asking one of my other brothers about you all, so I do know how it works out for Heather and Charlie and all the rest of you. I wouldn't have done what I did if it was going to end badly."

"So you know what happens to us all?" Asked Dan.

"Yes. You want to know about that second child, right?"

Dan nodded. "Yes."

"Two and a half years from now. The rest would be spoilers."

"Fi was right then." Dan said quietly and took Jane's hand.

"Barakel's daughter always is."

Both Jess and Dan were on their feet. "No!" they shouted in unison, staring at Kael.

"Freaky Fiona Sawbridge is a Nephilim?" Questioned Jess.

"Yes, there are quite a few."

"And we always wondered why she had such bright orange hair when her parents were brunettes."

Kael chuckled. "Barakel's children stand out. Recessive gene my ass, that boy gets about."

"Fiona Sawbridge? She helped me to put this all together." I said. "She's on a vampire forum."

"I know." Said Jane. "She's already come to our attention. She knows a lot and it's all correct."

"The Volturi won't hurt her will they?" Asked Dan. "She did help us to discover where Jess was."

"I'll make sure we lose her file."

"Thanks." Said Dan.

"You should get in touch with her." Said Kael. "I think Barakel would like to know how she is."

"He couldn't see her himself?" Asked Jess.

"It really isn't easy to walk into someone's life and tell them that you're their father. And neither is it easy to walk back into their mother's life looking wholly unchanged. That would cause an awful lot of pain."

"I wouldn't have put Eileen Sawbridge down as someone to have had an affair." Dan blew air out through his teeth.

"Angels are just as hard as vampires to resist." Kael smiled gently.

I smiled, Bella smiled, Jess, Dan and Jake smiled. Across the room Esmé too was looking at Carlisle in an odd way.

"You two as well?" I asked, a little shocked. "I thought Carlisle changed you when you were dying?"

"Oh I was," said Esmé. "But that wasn't the first time I met him. He treated me when I broke my leg when I was sixteen."

"Ten years earlier?" Asked Will.

"Vampires are just as hard as Angels to resist." Esmé said smiling.

Carlisle looked at Will. "Girl meets boy, vampire meets human and on and on we go until the end of time. I waited a long time for Miss Platt." Carlisle grinned. "As I said earlier, we are at our core incredibly selfish beings. What I wanted, I got."

"Well that's your Vampire of the Year award out the window." Said Rose.

"Hey, I waited ten years and she pretty much dropped into my lap at the end, so let's not paint me as the villain here!" Carlisle laughed.

Ben ran in from the pool. "Is nobody going to come play with me?"

"I'll come and play with you." Said Dan getting up.

"We'll all come and play with you." Added Alice.

"Boys against girls?" Asked Ben excitedly.

"Well, we've got two more boys than girls." Said Dan.

"I'll sit this one out." Said Kael. "I'm intrigued by your books."

"What about Alia?" said Esmé to Carlisle "She'd love this."

"Yes, I'll go get her." Said Carlisle.

"Swimsuits!" Said Jess. "I really don't think Stephanie and Heather need to cope with all you lot in your birthday suits."

As one by one everyone drifted back to their rooms, Kael went over to the bookcases. I seized my opportunity to ask him the question that had been circling in my head since he said that he knew what happened to us all.

"And that's all you want to know?"

"Yes."

"Nothing about yourself?"

I shook my head. "No."

"Good. Life's more fun when you don't know what's coming."

I walked off back to our room, but Edward was waiting for me. "I too am surprised that that's all you asked."

"It's all I want to know."

"I've discovered I can only hear his thoughts if he's within twenty feet of me, so I know what he said. Bella, Ness, Jake and I will help you."

"Thanks, but I'm not going to tell Daniel, so I'd be grateful if this stayed between you and me. I didn't ask timescales, I just asked if it would happen."

"And now you know it will, so how does that affect you?"

"I've got some work to do." I replied. "I've never considered that I would be a Mom before."

"But you won't be giving birth to Madison."

"No and I don't know what circumstances she'll come to us in, so I need to be prepared for every eventuality."

"Let me tell Bella, please. I don't keep secrets from my wife anymore, it doesn't work out well."

I nodded. Edward reached out and touched my arm. "You're taking on a lot, go easy on yourself. Come and have some fun by the pool. I think you'll find that being ordered around by a small boy is a remarkable species leveller. Oh and by the way, I probably should have mentioned this earlier, but that piece of jewellery you received, the _Heart of the Star_?"

"Yes?"

"That was from all of us. That was your welcome to the family present."

"From… from all of you?"

"Yes, well, I picked it out – of your head – but it's from all the family, so please, wear it. It's yours."

"Thank you."

"No, thank _you_."

"What for?"

"Oh…" He smiled enigmatically. "Something else I picked up in Kael's head."

"What?" I was insanely curious.

He grinned and kissed me briefly on the forehead. "Spoilers!" He flitted off leaving me alone in the passageway.

"Damn you Edward Cullen!" I grinned.

"What's Edward done now?" Daniel's arms circled around me.

"Nothing, I just found out the origin of the jewellery." I smiled, turning around in his arms and planting my lips on his. "Are you sure you want to hang out by the pool. We could go back to bed?"

He shook his head. "No, I have unfinished _super-soaker_ business with Ben." He said in all seriousness.

I laughed. "Is this family ever serious?"

"Yes, but we take everything as it comes and make the best of it. We work hard, fight hard and play hard. Right now, nobody's got it in for us and we're all together. This is the time to play hard. At some point over the next few days we'll have to sit through Ness making a tearful speech about how wonderful Edward is; but apart from that, we're here to kick back and relax."

"Vampires on vacation?"

"You got it! I know from Alice that tomorrow's going to be cloudy, so why don't we take the opportunity to go to San Gimignano?"

My eyes bugged. "Really?" Daniel nodded. "Together?" He nodded again and my heart exploded with joy like a firework. "I'd love it!" I threw my arm around his neck and kissed him.

There was an ominous click from behind me. In an instant I discovered I was behind Daniel and he was protecting me from the danger ahead. Ben was aiming the biggest water pistol I'd ever seen, straight at us.

"I thought you said that nobody's got it in for us?" I said, peeking out from behind Daniel.

"Hmm… Well I hadn't bargained on us being taken hostage by Bandit Ben." Daniel replied, seriously.

Ben took aim and I could see his finger start to squeeze the trigger, when all of a sudden, Alice swept him up. "Not in _here_!" She snapped.

"No Grandmaaaa!" He wailed as Alice carried him off to the pool.

The pair of us stood there laughing. I took hold of Daniel's hands.

"I'll meet you in five minutes," I said. "I need to get changed."

Daniel jogged off to the pool and I walked back to our room. I changed into my swimsuit and stood at the window, holding my hand over my tightly bound, broken rib. It was starting to throb again. I looked down on the Cullen family playing happily in or lounging by the pool. Apart from the odd blur of someone moving too fast, or the glitter of vampire skin, you wouldn't think there was anything different about this group of people; this family, my family. I grabbed my sunglasses and walked out to join them.


	28. Chapter 28

**Epilogue: In Plain Sight **

I packed my groceries. As I paid, I saw Susie Taylor unloading her cart behind me. Dan was with her.

"Hello love!" Called Susie, "How are you? Back into the swing of things already?" Her strong northern English accent reminded me so much of Jess.

"Yes, feels like I've never been away."

"Are you looking forward to tomorrow? I bet it's all go down at Charlie's. I saw Heather earlier; she said that Edward's family have been in and decorated the church. Apparently you can't move in there for flowers." She sighed. "I must admit tomorrow's going to be hard. Ness getting married, it's…" Dan appeared at Susie's side and put his hand on his Mum's shoulder. She put her own on top.

"You must miss her so much." I said.

"I do. Still, I'm glad that Dan's finally managed to get himself back on his feet. He's even got the chance of a job."

"Sound engineer." Said Dan. "I've got an interview for a recording studio in Seattle."

"That's great! I'm glad to see you're doing well." He had filled out a lot from the summer, lost that 'walking dead' look he'd been cultivating; gotten a haircut and could even find his razor again. I picked up my bag and said I'd see them both tomorrow at the wedding. Dan and I glanced at each other and a thousand unspoken words passed between us.

I'd see him earlier than tomorrow, because in exactly one hour we were both due at the Cullen house. More than that, we both knew what was coming for Susie Taylor. Before the first anniversary of her daughter's death, her son would be dead too. Not literally dead, just spirited away. Both Dan and I had our 'Plan As' and Dan's was moving towards completion. Jane was winding up her association with the Volturi and working out of the house in the forest, gradually handing things over to her successor. She was also Mom to Sophie, aided by Rose and Emmett who acted as night time babysitters, while Jane spent her nights with Dan in the Taylor's house. Dan spent time at the house during the day; convincing his parents he was looking for a job and giving them hope that he was turning things around. That wasn't to be. Drugs would return to Dan's life in a 'fatal' way.

I drove home and arrived just as Charlie was heading out.

"Going for a beer? I asked.

"Just out to catch up with a friend in Port Angeles for the evening. You?"

"Playing it by ear, got the possibility of a date so who knows."

"Well you drive safe."

"Always do." I said to the chief.

"Hey that's my line." He grinned.

I laughed and walked up to my door. More lies, I knew exactly where Charlie was headed and tonight it wouldn't involve beer. I juggled my groceries and my work bag and wrestled the key in the lock. I almost fell through the door as it opened and a grapefruit rolled out of the grocery bag and along the hall floor. I struggled in, shut the door and as I did so a hand shot out and picked up the escaping fruit.

"Oh you're home!" I sighed in utter relief, dumping the groceries and my bag right where I stood. My eyes drank in Daniel, as if they were glugging gallons of the freshest, cleanest most thirst-quenching water, ever.

I couldn't keep the smile from my face. It had been a full ten days since we'd last seen each other and I was desperate for him. He's called me every day, but that wasn't the same. There'd been an unfortunate combination of my period and him having three days in San Francisco; for Madison's tenth birthday and a meeting to secure some work. Our reunions were always sweet, but there was a familiar routine that we had to observe when we'd been apart for any length of time. I couldn't throw myself at him; he needed a moment, to focus on the flowers and not the wine. It wasn't long, but when I was this close these moments felt like forever. Finally his arm reached out to me and I ran over to him. He locked me to him securely, in a grip I knew I could never break, nor ever wanted to. I put my hands around his neck and exerted what pathetic grip I could in return. We kissed and I responded to his lips a little more than I used to. I could do that now, he was getting stronger.

"That felt like the longest ten days ever." I said.

"For me too, it's so good to be home."

"So how is she?"

"As I said on the phone, as far as I can tell she's mostly OK." He couldn't see Madison directly; all he could do was skulk around in the shadows of her life and pick up what gleanings of it he could. "There's been a development though since yesterday, her birthday seems to have sparked something." He guided me through to the living room and flipped up the lid of my laptop. In the browser bar he typed a web address and it brought up a missing person's forum. He clicked on one thread and it brought up a picture. The man in the photograph was familiar and it took a second or two to register that it was of Daniel in his pre-vampire state. His features were softer, less defined but it was still him. His hair was longer, a more muted shade of blond and reached to his collar. His cheeks were an unfamiliar pink and his eyes were brown. I saw that just like Jess, the conversion process had perfected what he had. "It was taken two weeks before I disappeared from her life." He said.

"What's it doing on here?"

"She's looking for me." He scrolled down and I read the few lines she'd put there. That was a little girl who wanted her Daddy back and tears sprang to my eyes.

"She's ten and she's posting on a message board? How does she know how to do that?"

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "What do you think I used to do with her, play Barbies?" He grinned. "If I passed anything on to her it was knowledge of how a computer works and how you get information out of it. Thing is, she's doing this behind Helen's back." He said.

"Helen doesn't know about this?"

"No. Helen has another new person in her life. I'm about six relationships ago. I'm well and truly dead."

"Madison's not convinced though?"

"It would appear not, she still thinks I'm out there." His face was so pained and yet I couldn't tell him what I knew from Kael. I had no timescale to put on it and not knowing may cause him to do something unwise. It could be one month, one year, one decade, two decades or more. I didn't know when, all I'd asked Kael was whether Madison and Daniel were ever going to be reunited. He'd given me a simple yes.

"But I got a new picture." Daniel said, suddenly animated. He went over to his bag and pulled out his camera, switching it on and scrolling through the photos. He turned the screen to me. She wasn't looking directly at him but it was close enough. He'd caught her with an expression which showed her to be unmistakeably his daughter but with Helen's brown hair. She was far away and no real part of my life whatsoever; but as I loved her Daddy very much, I was starting to connect to her, to feel that she was already part of our lives.

"You should print that off. I have a frame we could put it in." I handed the camera back. "What are you going to do about this?" I pointed to the screen.

"I'll have to go into the forum and take it down. There are people in the city who know very well what happened to me and they could turn that to their financial advantage. Helen is very wealthy, our family is very wealthy and Carlo's empire needs a constant supply of money. Who's to say that one of them won't remember me and work out that it's an easy source of cash?" He sighed. There was pain there and then his expression totally changed. "But! There's also this. He flicked to another photograph and turned the camera back to me. It was a photo of a couple, taken as they were pushing a grocery cart across a parking lot. The likeness in the man was familiar.

"Your Mom and Dad?" I could see the emotion on Daniel's face that would never come out as tears. I put my arm around him.

He nodded. "I took a chance yesterday after the meeting. It was tough driving through Menlo Park, but worth it for this. You know how much this means."

I did. He knew they were alive and well. Even though this was as close as he could get, it would give him another thing for his growing pile of nice memories. "Print that one off too." I said. He put the camera down on the table, returning to hold me again while I ran kisses up and down his throat.

"I really wish you could've been with me. I wish we could share these times together."

"The downsides of me being a teacher, huh?" I smiled.

"I know." He smiled in return and angled his head on one side. "Sometimes I think you don't get why I'm doing this?"

"Oh, I totally get it. I just don't think the rest of the world would ever get why a vampire would be so thrilled about simple experiences they take for granted."

"I don't care about the rest of the world. All I care about is you."

"And Madison."

"And Madison."

I kissed my boyfriend, my currently secret boyfriend who, despite being a vampire, craved nothing more than to spend his days sat at a computer in our spare bedroom, writing software, programs or designing websites for other companies. A vampire whose favourite way to spend weekday evenings was watching TV on the sofa, with me wrapped up in a blanket in his arms to protect me from his chill. But often I had to work weeknights; because although I tried very hard to get everything fitted in by five o'clock when I left school, I was, after all, only human.

On the face of it there was a stunning normality to our lives: Work, family and time together. I went out there Monday to Friday and did my job, but I hid the rest of my life in plain sight. You just didn't talk about it. There was a time and a place to discuss Christmas arrangements with Heather, and it wasn't in the bread aisle at Thriftway. I jealously guarded my time outside school especially the weekends, when I came home and found that he'd made a head start on dinner. I liked that part, because what's sexier than coming home to find that your guy cooked dinner? Possibly knowing what lies ahead.

An early dinner for me was 'getting it out of the way'. An early dinner meant I would be retiring to bed very early after a long week of work. But I was never at home on Friday nights nor did I ever get an early night, or any sleep at all for that matter. Friday was when I temporarily checked out of my human life, relocated to the Cullen house and became as near vampire as it was possible for me to be. I spent the weekend with Daniel; out in Olympic National Park or simply in his room in bed. I was always hellishly tired on Mondays, but the ache between my legs and the fading bruises on my body were the tangible reminder of how much I enjoyed my weekends. But this one was different, we couldn't hole up in his bedroom for two solid days, we had other things to do this weekend.

"Hey, look at the time." He reminded me. "You need to get changed. I'll put the groceries away."

"Oops!" I sprinted upstairs, changed out of my work clothes and pulled on jeans and a top. I ran back downstairs again and he met me in the hall.

"See you in ten." He kissed me and handed me my car keys. He'd make his way through the forest and regardless of how fast I drove; he would always get there before me.

The house was a hive of activity as I pulled into the garage area. Daniel opened my door before I'd even pulled the car to a stop. We walked hand in hand into a packed house, where vampires, Quileutes, humans and even the odd angel were waiting for things to start. All the family were here, from Carlisle through to three month old Sophie, who was currently wrapped in a blanket in the arms of Jane and being coo-ed over by Alice. Daniel and I had spent time getting to know Sophie too, as we took our turn in caring for the little girl. Bella had told me about the Cullen's 'team-parenting' approach. When babies were such precious gifts in a family, it was only fair that everyone got their turn with them. Spending time with Sophie had awakened desires in me that I had never known were there. It had gotten me thinking about more than including Madison in our lives. But that would require careful thinking about and wasn't something I could do on a whim.

Along with the family there were the Alaskan cousins and a contingent of red-eyed vampires that the family considered friends. The red-eyes were very polite but I could see that they weren't comfortable in the presence of humans. The gold-eyes made it look easy, but I knew the struggle that it was. Over in the far corner I spied Charlie catching up with Garrett, one of the Alaskan cousins. Garrett was his cousin now and regardless of the species difference, there was a shared intenseness in their faces which could only mean one thing – they were discussing sports.

The Quileute packs were here with their wives and girlfriends, although Leah, not being imprinted was on her own. There were none of their children here; this gathering was strictly for those people who knew the truth. Even Billy's wife Maggie wasn't here. Secrets like this couldn't be extended to non-imprinted marriage partners; it was much too great a risk.

Tomorrow's ceremony was for the wider world and Maggie would be at that. Tomorrow, Ness Masen would marry Jake Black in the town church, in front of some of their family (there had to be notable exceptions) and those who thought they knew them. But tonight, on the back lawn, Ness Cullen would be the one marrying Jake. For them this was the important one. This was where they could truly be who and what they were.

But first there was an equally significant event. In the living area everyone gathered around the dining table. At it sat Billy and Carlisle. To Billy's left was Jake and to Carlisle's right were Edward, Bella and Ness. Billy held up a yellowing scroll of parchment.

"This is the treaty drawn up between the Cullen family and the Quileutes in 1936." He said in a loud voice. Billy took it between his hands and ripped it firmly in two along its length. "It is no longer applicable between friends. There is no new treaty going in in its place, but something stronger; that will permanently bond the Quileute tribe and the Cullen family together, for eternity." Billy turned to Carlisle. "The Quileutes will stand and fight with you to protect your ways and all those who are born into or claim the family name of Cullen."

"Likewise." Carlisle said. "The Cullen family will stand and fight to protect your ways and all those who are born into or claim membership of the Quileute tribe."

Billy and Carlisle shook hands and the assembled crowd clapped, whooped and whistled.

"Now, I believe something very special is going to cement our new friendship," continued Billy. "So if you'd all like to make your way out onto the lawn back there, the Reverend Heather Scott is going to officiate at the first ever Cullen Quileute wedding. Those of us who've been around a while," he pointed out a few of the crowd. "Carlisle, Edward, Rose, Emmett, Esmé, Quil, Harry if he were here, have some understanding of the magnitude of all this." Billy was serious now. "The rest of you are simply here to witness the tearing up of an old treaty and to celebrate Ness and Jake's wedding. But some of you know what this truly means.

"Right now, I want to say my own personal thank you to Bella." Billy lifted his hand in acknowledgement to her. "Without you insisting that friendship was necessary between Edward and Jake, none of this would have been possible. So I acknowledge you in all this; you and your amazing daughter. Who from today I get to call my daughter and if you'll all about turn and face the other way please, this old man's going to cry."

Underneath a clear night sky and on a lawn bordered with flaming torches, Ness and Jake stood in front of Heather and recited vows they had written themselves. There didn't appear to be any precedent for this, so using anyone else's words had felt wrong. There was no seating plan, there was no standing plan, this wedding was as informal and as casual as it got. It was unseasonably warm for early October and Ness was in jeans and a vest top; Jake was in cut offs and barefoot. Everyone else had kept to the dress code to 'come as you are'. That was less about clothing in this family.

Tomorrow was the dress-up day and at Ness's gathering of girls last Friday night, Alice had revealed the hat she was going to wear.

"Do you think it's too big?"

"No not at all." Rose had smirked. "Although I'm glad for your sake, that we're not holding the ceremony in Area 51." That had sent giggles around the assembled group.

"It's lovely, Alice." Said Heather. "In my experience, it wouldn't be a proper wedding without a woman in a really big hat."

Alice placed the hat on her head. She looked stunning. Despite its size she'd chosen perfectly. I was beginning to see, as she'd helped me to pick out my dress that she always did.

Back out on the lawn, my mind wandered a little from the ceremony and I looked around at our family. Very soon we'd split into two groups. Edward, Bella, Daniel, me, Ness, Jake, Charlie and Heather would stay here. Edward and Bella were remaining at their cottage in the forest, but this house was going up for sale, its purpose now served because with Ness and Jake's enormous house down at La Push, there was a bigger place for the growing family to congregate in. The keeping of the cottage had been a relief to Ness. With her parents there and her in La Push, there would be eleven and a half miles between her and her father and he'd be out of range of her head. I knew Edward was glad about that too.

As for Daniel, we were already living together, although he came and went unnoticed by the wider world. It had been fortunate that I'd chosen a house right next to the forest, it made life so much easier. But Daniel wasn't staying behind the doors and windows of my life. Just like Dan, I too had my exit plan. Plan A swung into action tomorrow, when I'd be attending Ness and Jake's wedding and there, I would meet Carlisle's cousin, Daniel Cullen. They do say it's often the way that you meet your future husband at somebody else's wedding. That was going to ring true for me. That was Plan A anyway. Plan B involved an accidental bite, and Plan C… I didn't want to go there.

So that was us. Equally there were plans for the others. In a few weeks' time, when Dan had tragically 'died' from a drug-overdose, Carlisle, the new hospital Doctor and Esmé, his wife; would travel north to Dawson City, in the Yukon Territory of Canada. With them would be their adopted children; Dan, 17 and Jane, 14. Arriving a week ahead of them, would be Emmett and Rose McCarty and their baby daughter Sophie. In a large remote house to the north that Esmé was already overseeing the renovations on, would live Jess, Will, Ben, Jasper and Alice. When Dan graduated for the second time and 'went to University' that would be the cue for his transformation and the point at which Jane and he would go and live at the house while he adjusted. Sophie wouldn't be able to have much contact with Dan for a while, but these were the difficulties that we would work through.

In pulling Dan out of Forks we knew that we would be causing horrific pain to Susie and Brian Taylor. I would be witnessing first-hand what would be part of my own Plan A, B or C when my time came. Departures caused distress, but the lives that we led meant that it was unavoidable, whether you chose it or had it foisted upon you. Back in Tuscany, Faisal and Alia had agreed to oversee the program for a while as Carlisle and Esmé felt that their duty was to their family while Dan made the transition.

I looked over to Kael, watching his daughter performing the ceremony. He was staying around for a while as Heather's nephew, and was already causing utter chaos at Forks High, where Kael Scott, our newest arrival in eleventh grade held almost the entire female population, and some of the male, in his thrall. I wondered if by encouraging her father to do something he'd never done before - go to school – Heather had quite appreciated the disruption she'd bring on the town. Vampires were nothing compared to the havoc angels could wreak. He was in my History class he kept me on my toes, narrowing his eyes whenever I got my historical facts wrong! Heather's Sunday congregations were now giving headaches about space-issues. The men couldn't work it out, but the women knew exactly why the place was overrun with teenage girls… and their mothers! Kael was fascinating to talk to and he and Edward had been getting to know one another, especially as a diamond ring around Heather's finger, meant that Kael was going to be Charlie's father-in-law. Kael knew what the future held for our family but I hadn't wanted to know. But Edward thanking me for something had given me hope that I would survive. For a while at least.

As cheers and applause rang out for Ness and Jake, I looked up and saw high above me the constellation of Orion the hunter. What had started almost a year ago with me looking up at the stars had come full circle. But the astronomy teacher wasn't standing in front of me now; he was standing behind with his arms wrapped tightly around me. I thought back to the list that I'd made at the start of the last academic year. I'd achieved everything, although not quite the way I'd planned it. However, I'd scored a pretty spectacular fail on the 'no men' rule. Ah well, nobody's perfect.

I had a little list in my head of three things I wanted to achieve this year. Number one was to meet a really nice man. Now, where in Forks would you go for one of those..? Perhaps I'd have some good fortune at the wedding tomorrow.

**The End**

**Author's Note: **_I hope you have enjoyed reading this story. I'd love any feedback you'd like to give. There are two more stories to come in this series, so please click 'author alert' and the site will let you know when there's more._

_Thank you once again for reading!_

**Rachel xx**


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